Agenda item

Present: Licence Holder

The Panel Members and Officers introduced themselves. 

The Legal Advisor outlined the purpose of the hearing and explained the procedure for the meeting.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer presented the report, which related to a review of a licence to drive hackney carriage or private hire vehicles where a licensed vehicle had been operating without a road fund licence.  She stated that the Licence Holder had recently appeared before the Sub-Committee because of points accrued on his DVLA licence and on that occasion he had been allowed to keep his taxi licence.

In response to a question by the Chairman, the Licensing Enforcement Officer confirmed that if a vehicle was untaxed, the insurance was invalidated and passengers were uninsured.  The road fund licence had expired on 31 August 2019.

The Chairman invited the Licence Holder to put his case.

The Licence Holder explained that on being informed by a member of the Licensing staff that the vehicle was untaxed, he had gone to the Post Office to tax the vehicle.  He explained that he had purchased the vehicle in July and thought he had been to the Post Office to tax it, but due to problems with getting the car through taxi testing he probably had not done so.  He said it was a genuine mistake and apologised for it.  He recognised it was a serious offence to drive an untaxed vehicle.  He had not received a reminder from the DVLA, but the postal delivery to his home was sporadic.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer drew attention to an email appended to the report setting out the actions taken by the Administrative Officer with regard to this matter, and in particular a paragraph relating to her discussion with the Licence Holder.  She confirmed that the Licence Holder had done what was asked of him.

The Chairman asked the Licensing Enforcement Officer if it was satisfactory for the Licence Holder to set up a direct debit for his road fund licence rather than paying for it in full.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer confirmed that a direct debit was acceptable and the vehicle would remain taxed provided the payments were kept up.

Councillor Mrs G Perry-Warnes asked the Licence Holder if he had tried to pay the vehicle tax but had been unsuccessful in implementing it.

The Licence Holder stated that he paid all his vehicle taxes at the Post Office and he had so much to do with the car when he bought it, such as fitting the taximeter and fixing problems with the vehicle, that he genuinely thought he had taxed it.

The Chairman referred to the determination notice relating to the Licence Holder’s previous appearance before the Sub-Committee, in which it had stated that “… in the event that he finds himself before the Licensing Sub-Committee, a less favourable view may be taken against the Licence Holder.”  He asked the Licence Holder if he could convince the Sub-Committee that such a view should not be taken on this occasion.

The Licence Holder stated that he had made a genuine mistake.  He referred to his age and stated that he had a taxi licence which ran until 2022, which he would dearly like to keep.   It was a genuine oversight on his part and he realised it was a serious offence, but it was his livelihood.  His partner was unwell and he needed the income.  He expressed remorse for the offence and hoped he would not appear before the Sub-Committee again.

The Chairman asked the Licensing Enforcement Officer how many taxi drivers were on the Council’s records and how many of them appeared before the Sub-Committee.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer stated that there were around 300 registered drivers.  She did not have the information to hand as to how many appeared before the Sub-Committee but estimated it to be around 5-10%.

At the request of the Chairman, the Licence Holder confirmed how long he had held his taxi licence.

There were no further questions.

The Sub-Committee retired at 2.53 pm and returned at 4.04 pm.

RESOLVED

That the licence be revoked with immediate effect.