Agenda and minutes

Venue: Pittville Room - Municipal Offices

Contact: Sophie McGough, Democracy Officer 

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Minutes:

There were no apologies.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Minutes of the last meeting pdf icon PDF 78 KB

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 1st November 2017

Minutes:

The minutes of the last meeting held on 1st November 2017 were approved and signed as a correct record.

 

4.

Application for a Street Trading Consent pdf icon PDF 74 KB

Mr Robert Ursell

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Licensing Officer, Mr Phil Cooper introduced the report and explained to the Committee that Mr Ursell had made an application for a street trading consent to sell cut flowers, pot plants and seasonal floral goods at the corner of High Street and Church Street. Appendix A and Appendix B showed the proposed location and an image of the trading unit. Mr Ursell had applied for consent to trade from 7th December to 24th December 2017 between the hours of 07:00 and 19:00 hours. The case had been referred to Committee because it was not in an approved location in the street trading policy, however, Mr Cooper informed Members that the location had been used previously for trading, including by Mr Ursell.

 

Members were advised by the Officer that having regard to the facts, Members should decide whether to:

 

Approve the application because Members were satisfied that the location, size of unit and type of goods were suitable or;

 

Refuse the application because it does not comply with the council’s adopted policy as the location is not approved for street trading. 

 

The Members began by querying whether there had been any previous complaints regarding trading in this location. The Licensing Officer informed Members that there had been one, he explained that this had been made in 2011 from a nearby shop which complained that Mr Ursell had encroached on the space outside the shop. Mr Ursell claimed that he was unaware of the complaint and Mr Cooper advised that this matter had been resolved and there were no further issues.

 

The Members proceeded to ask Mr Ursell a series of questions and he was invited to provide a statement in support of his application. His responses were as follows:

 

·           He confirmed it had been a family run business for 114 years and he had been trading up until 2015.

·           He informed Members that for the past 4 years he had been suffering from a series of serious health issues and he now felt up to trading again.

·           Members raised some concern over the timings he was proposing to trade considering his health issues. Mr Ursell confirmed he would likely to be trading from 9am – 4pm/5pm but wanted the leniency in case trade was going well.

·           Members also questioned whether he would be happy to trade within the designated area given the previous complaint and if the picture in Appendix B was a fair representation of what he was proposing. Mr Ursell confirmed he would stick within the designated 2.1m x 1.2m space and was likely to use the floor space rather than a barrow.

·           Members also questioned how he proposed to restock as it was a limited sized stall. Mr Ursell confirmed he had permission to park his van in the churchyard and restock from there.

 

Following a short discussion, Members agreed that no harm would be caused from Mr Ursell trading in the designated area given that it was for such a limited time.

 

The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Renewal of Hackney Carriage Driver's Licence pdf icon PDF 92 KB

Mr Paul Bacon - HCD735

 

Minutes:

The Licensing Officer introduced the report regarding a renewal of Mr Paul Bacon’s Hackney Carriage driver’s licence HCD 735. He informed Members that Mr Bacon’s certificate from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) had shown a caution which Mr Bacon had failed to disclose on his renewal application form as required by Council policy. He drew Members’ attention to paragraph 4.6 of the report which notes:

 

 Members are to note however that in order for the police to issue a formal caution, the offender has to admit an offence and agree to be cautioned. A caution cannot be issued if the offender does not comply with the two conditions above’.

 

In light of this the Committee were asked to consider whether to:

 

·           Grant Mr Bacon’s application to renew a Hackney Carriage driver’s licence with no further action taken because the Committee considers him to be a fit and proper person, or

 

·           Refuse to renew Mr Bacon’s Hackney Carriage driver’s licence because the Committee considers him to no longer be a fit and proper person.

 

On a point of clarification the legal officer informed Members that a caution is the disposal of an offence in an administrative way following an admission. The alternative option would be to go to court.

 

Mr Bacon was invited to give his account of events. He informed Members that:

 

·                The incident was a genuine mistake and he thought his wife had paid for the shopping.

·                He had shamefully gone along with something he had never done before.

·                He felt it was unfair that had he been shoplifting then he would have been let go, it was only for the fact that he had admitted to the mistake that the police had been called and he had been cautioned.

·                He explained that his wife’s father had died 2 days previous to the incident and it was because of this state of grief that she did not pay.

·                It was his wife who had written the letter on his behalf explaining the incident.

·                Mr Bacon had taken the blame for the incident but the police believed it was his wife’s wrong doing.

·                He claimed that Tesco had accused him of stealing on several occasions yet he had never been convicted of anything and had never been in trouble with the police before. 

·                He informed the Committee that he had been a taxi driver for 18 years.

·                He wasn’t even aware that he had even been cautioned as it was his wife who had to attend a criminal conviction course in Birmingham. This was therefore why he had not disclosed it on his renewal form, it wasn’t a case of trying to de-fraud the system, just a genuine mistake which he felt embarrassed about.

·                He informed Members that he had character references if they wished to view them.

·                He Bacon proceeded to tell Members of a story whereby he helped a drunken lone female to get home and did not charge her when she was sick in his  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Review of a Hackney Carriage Driver's Licence

Report of the Licencing Team Leader

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members were then invited to vote upon section 1.5.1 that:

 

The Hackney Carriage driver’s licence be reinstated because the Committee is satisfied that he is a fit and proper person to hold such a licence.

 

Upon a vote, it was 4 against and 1 Member for.  

 

Resolved That

 

The Hackney Carriage driver’s licence be revoked as the Committee considered him not a fit and proper person to hold such a licence.