Agenda item

Mrs Judith Timur – HCD006

The Chair explained the process to the applicant.

The Senior Licensing Officer then explained that the applicant holds a Hackney Carriage drivers licence which was due for renewal on 29 December 2019. 

The applicant has had a number of penalty points on her DVLA driving licence that she failed to notify the council of within the required timescales.

In light of the above the applicants Hackney Carriage driver’s licence was being referred to the Licensing Committee for a review to determine if she is a fit and proper person to hold a Hackney Carriage driver’s licence in the light of the fact that:

-       The applicant has points on her DVLA driving licence

-       She failed to notify the Council of these within the required timescales as outlined in the Council’s licensing policy.

The Senior Licensing Officer confirmed that the applicant has not been to the committee before.

The applicant confirmed that she had no questions at this stage.

The applicant then made the following points:

-       The car was purchased by her for her brother and that it was so her brother could get to work as a long distance lorry driver.  The points were awarded in Cardiff town centre on New Years day, when notification of this was received  her brother could not be contacted as he was driving in Europe.  It appeared that the keys of the vehicle were left in the yard at his work place so anyone could have been driving the car.

-       The applicant contacted Cardiff police and explained the case – she thought that it had been dropped when she received a summons to attend court.  She attended the court and made her case however the prosecution wanted to continue with  the case and she was awarded 6 points.

-       The applicant was being treated for stress at the time and cares for her elderly mother along with her sister and when the points were awarded she struggled to come to terms with it and buried her head in the sand.

-       The applicant explained that at the time it was low down in her concerns and she only drives when her husband is away.

Members were then given the opportunity to question the applicant and the following points were raised:

-       It seemed that the applicant was a victim of unfortunate circumstances.

-       Had the applicant had points before? The applicant confirmed that she had but they had long been removed from her licence.

-       There were some concerns about the safety of people having access to other peoples vehicles.

The applicant had nothing further to add so the matter then went to Member debate.

-       The general consensus was that there should be some action taken but that it would be dispassionate to refuse the licence.

The applicant then thanked Members for their time.

The chair then went to a vote as follows:

1.4.1 -   Grant the application for a Hackney Carriage driver’s licence with no further action as she remains to be a fit and proper person

0 in favour

7 against

1.4.2 –   Grant the application for a Hackney Carriage driver’s licence as she remains to be a fit and proper person but that she is issued with a formal written warning

7 in favour

0 against

This was then carried.

The chair stated that on the back of the 2 cases that they heard was it worth issuing a reminder to all drivers regarding when they get points on their licences.

The chair took the opportunity to thank everyone involved with the licensing committees and the licensing team for their hard work as he is up for re election in May – he hopes to be back both as councillor and as chair.