Agenda item

To consider a confidential report by the Head of Planning and Public Protection (copy enclosed) seeking members’ determination of a request to licence a vehicle for the purposes of hackney carriage licensing.

RESOLVED that the request for the vehicle to be licensed as a hackney carriage vehicle be refused.

A confidential report by the Head of Planning and Public Protection (previously circulated) was submitted upon –

(i)            a request having been received from a hackney carriage proprietor to licence a vehicle for the purposes of hackney carriage licensing;

(ii)          officers having not been in a position to grant the application as the vehicle presented for licensing did not comply with the specification with regard to age limits as detailed in the Council’s Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicle Policy, Specification and Conditions, and

(iii)         the Applicant having been invited to attend the meeting in support of his application.

The Licensing Officer (NJ) presented the report and drew attention to the Council’s policy which specified that vehicles subject of a new application must be no older than five years and explained there was no longer discretion in the policy to deviate from the age limit for older vehicles in exceptional condition.  As the vehicle subject of the application was nine years old it did not comply with current specifications.  Consequently members were asked to consider the Applicant’s request to depart from the Council’s policy in this case in order to grant the application as applied for.

The Applicant accepted that granting the application would be a deviation from the existing policy but urged members to do so in this case given the quality and condition of the vehicle; his commitment to its purchase, and the fact that he had been unaware of the policy change or he would have submitted the vehicle for licensing earlier.  He also provided some background history to his business and his intention to license the vehicle in order to fulfil contract work effectively.  The Applicant responded to members’ questions regarding the timing of his application and the operation of his business, including acquisition of the vehicle for licensing.

With regard to the policy changes officers advised that a comprehensive consultation process had been undertaken following which information had twice been sent out to licence holders regarding implementation of the new policy and its implications with particular emphasis on the age limit for licensed vehicles.  The Applicant was adamant that he had been unaware of the policy change and claimed that he had only been alerted to the fact by a fellow operator.  In making his final statement he argued that rather than a deviation from policy, it was a technicality, as the request for licensing had been submitted one working day too late to be considered under the previous policy rules.

At this juncture the committee adjourned to consider the application and it was –

RESOLVED that the request for the vehicle to be licensed as a hackney carriage vehicle be refused.

The reasons for the Licensing Committee’s decision were as follows –

Members had carefully considered the case put forward by the Applicant and whilst there was some sympathy for his situation, on balance the committee did not consider a case had been made which would persuade them to deviate from their policy in this instance.  The Council’s policy stated that vehicles licensed under a new application must be up to a maximum of five years old from the date of first registration.  As the vehicle subject of the application in this case was nine years old it did not comply with the policy.  The committee also considered that sufficient consultation had taken place with regard to the policy changes and sufficient notice had been given to licence holders in that regard, consequently the Applicant ought to have known about the change in policy.

The Chair conveyed the committee’s decision and reasons therefore to the Applicant and he was advised of his right of appeal against that decision to the Magistrates Court within twenty-one days.