Agenda item

Ms Elaine Glave - PHD028

The Licensing Officer introduced the report. He explained that Ms Elaine Glave holds a Private Hire Driver’s licence with the Council and had been licensed since 2010. He confirmed that on 19^th July 2018 Ms Glave had reported to the council that she had received notice that 3 penalty points were to be imposed on her DVLA driving licence for a speeding offence, bringing her total number of points to 9. Two of the offences were on a public road and one on a motorway. He advised that Miss Glave had reported all the points in the required time but the matter had been referred to the committee as Miss Glaves points exceeded 7.

He advised the sub-committee that they could:

·           Determine to take no action if Members consider Ms Glave to be a fit and proper person to hold a licence; or

·           Take such of the following steps as the sub-committee consider appropriate:

(a) Give a written warning;

(b) Require the driver to pass an approved private hire driving test, at the driver’s own expense, within 2 months of their decision;

(c) Suspend the licence (please refer to paragraph 4.5 in relation to this option); and

(d) Revoke the licence.

The Licensing Officer confirmed that SP50 is the code given for the offence of speeding on the motorway and does not refer to the speed limit.

Miss Glave was invited to give her account of events. She explained that:

·           All three offences had occurred on the motorway;

·           She recalled when all 3 instances had occurred. One was driving on the motorway back from Bristol, one on the bypass from Cirencester to Cheltenham and one when she was travelling on the bypass towards the M5. On all three occasions she had had no passengers in the car;

·           She had been a taxi driver for 9 years and up to last year she had had a clean licence;

·           She had had a difficult year as both her parents had passed and her daughter had been hospitalised;

·           Her father had been a carer for her mother and when he passed she had been travelling 2 hours to see her mother in the Peak District as she was concerned about her living alone;

·           She was supporting her daughter financially who still lived at home;

·           She also had the expense of paying off her car monthly.

In response to Members questions. Miss Glave advised that:

·           She had a previous offence a few years ago but opted to do a speed awareness course rather than take the points;

·           On all of the offences she had been doing 80mph in a 70mph zone;

·           She had changed her car 2 years ago as she had continual problems with her old car, the expense had nearly caused her to become bankrupt;

·           She advised that all of her personal issues she had mentioned previously had now been resolved;

·           To ensure she did not incur any further penalties on her licence, she always used cruise control when she was in the car  to ensure she was within the speed limit;

Following a question from a Member, the Licensing Officer confirmed that the cost of the approved private hire driving test was £85.

The Members proceeded to debate the application:

·           One Member noted that should Miss Glave receive any more penalty points she would be banned from driving. They therefore felt comfortable with anyone of their family members being in the car with Miss Glave as they believed she would now be extremely cautious. They believed no action should be taken as they had no sanction to match that of a driving ban;

·           Other Members sympathised with Miss Glave’s personal circumstances and appreciated she had had a difficult couple of years. They did not feel comfortable taking away Miss Glave’s livelihood but felt that the sensible option may be to require Miss Glave to do the approved private hire driving test which would reiterate the severity of the situation;

·           The Licensing Officer reminded the sub-committee that it was not their duty to punish Miss Glave but to ensure she was a fit and proper person;

·           One Member felt that neither the written warning or driving course would achieve anything and the fact that next time Miss Glave would lose her licence was enough of an incentive to drive carefully;

·           One Member felt that some action should be taken as the safety of the travelling public was paramount and the public would expect something to be done. Although they were satisfied that the mitigating circumstances had been resolved and felt a written warning would suffice;

·           The Legal Officer confirmed that if the sub-committee could not reach a decision, the Chair would have the deciding vote.

Members proceeded to vote on section 1.4.1 of the report to determine whether they consider Ms Glave to be a fit and proper person to hold a licence.

Upon a vote it was 4 for and 1 against.

Members voted on whether to take no further action. 

Upon a vote it was 1 for and 4 against.

Members voted on section 1.4.2a to issue Miss Glave with a written warning

Upon a vote it was 3 for and 2 against

Members voted on section 1.4.2b Require the driver to pass an approved private hire driving test, at the driver’s own expense, within 2 months of their decision

Upon a vote it was 2 for and 3 against

Resolved That

Members consider Ms Glave to be a fit and proper person to hold a licence but issue her with a written warning