Agenda and minutes

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 24 November 2016 (to be laid on the table half an hour before the meeting).

The minutes of the meeting which took place on 24 November 2016 were confirmed and signed.

To receive apologies for absence and to report any substitutions

There was apologies for absence from Councillor Tony Gordon-Smith. Councillor Anna James was in attendance as a substitute.

To receive from members declarations of interest in relation to any items included on the agenda for this meeting, in accordance with the Waverley Code of Local Government Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider the following recommendation on the motion of the Chairman:-

Recommendation

That pursuant to Procedure Rule 20 and in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the items, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information (as defined by Section 100I of the Act) of the description specified in paragraph 1 of the revised Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act in respect of the following item:

Information relating to any individual (paragraph 1)

At 10.15 a.m., it was

RESOLVED that, pursuant to Procedure Rule 20 and in accordance with Section 100B(5) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during these items, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information (as defined by section 100I of the Act) of the description specified in paragraph 1 of the revised Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the act, namely:-

1.    Information relating to any individual.

To consider the attached (exempt) report.

The Sub-Committee considered a report regarding an application for a hackney carriage/private hire driver.  The applicant had re-applied for a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire driver’s licence following a previous decision to revoke his licence made by the Licensing (General Purposes) Sub-Committee following a hearing on 29 May 2014.  On 7 July 2016 the Committee decided to grant a Private Hire Only badge.

The applicant attended the meeting and advised that he had read and understood the report.

The applicant explained the reason behind now wanting to be licensed as a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire driver, to be able to work from the rank at Haslemere Railway Station as well as continue with Private Hire.  He explained what had changed since his Hackney Carriage licence had originally been revoked.

Following questions by the Sub-Committee and responses from the driver the Sub-Committee withdrew at 10.30am.

Following the Sub-Committee’s deliberation, the meeting resumed at 11.13am.  The Council’s Solicitor had been asked to advise the Sub-Committee during their deliberation on the wording of their decision.

RESOLVED that, on the balance of probabilities, the Sub-Committee did consider the applicant to be a fit and proper person to hold a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire driver’s licence for the reasons in the [Exempt] Annexe to these minutes.

To consider the attached (exempt) report.

The Sub-Committee considered a report regarding an existing hackney  carriage/private hire driver, who had received a number of racial complaints both from a member of the public and other drivers on three separate occasions in August 2016, November 2016 and January 2017.

The driver attended the meeting and advised that he had read and understood the report.

The driver explained the history of the complaints and gave an account of what had happened on the three separate occasions which lead to the complaints being received. He also outlined issues with the siting of the rank at Farnham Town Centre which had resulted in some of the frustration the driver had experienced. It was confirmed that the driver had been licensed by Waverley Borough Council since April 1993 and no complaints had been received prior to August 2016.

Following questions by the Sub-Committee and responses from the driver the Sub-Committee withdrew at 11.54am.

Following the Sub-Committee’s deliberation the meeting resumed at 12.33pm.  The Council’s Solicitor had been asked to advise the Sub-Committee during their deliberation on the wording of their decision.

RESOLVED that, on the balance of probabilities the Sub-Committee did consider the driver to be a fit and proper person to hold a Private Hire driver’s licence but issued six penalty points for unsatisfactory conduct/behaviour, for the reasons set out in the [Exempt] Annexe to these minutes.

On announcing the decision at the meeting, it became apparent that there was already six penalty points on the driver’s licence for an unrelated offence. The result of the decision for this offence meant the driver had accumulated 12 points which would require another hearing to decide whether or not on the balance of probabilities the Sub-Committee considered the driver to be a fit and proper person to hold a Hackney Carriage/Private Hire driver’s licence.

The Sub-Committee decided to deal with the issue immediately and having heard representations from the driver, agreed that they could make a decision at the meeting.  Following questions by the Sub-Committee and responses from the driver, the Sub-Committee withdrew again at 12.45pm.

Following the Sub-Committee’s deliberation the meeting resumed at 1pm.  The Council’s Solicitor had been asked to advise the Sub-Committee during their deliberation on the wording of their decision.

RESOLVED that, on the balance of probabilities the Sub-Committee did consider the driver to be a fit and proper person to continue to hold a Private Hire driver’s licence and decided to take no further action for the reasons in the [Exempt] Annexe to these minutes.