Agenda and minutes

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of interests received.

The Chair outlined the hearing procedure that would be used to conduct the meeting.

To consider the exclusion of the press and public for the following items of business on the ground that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 4 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.

By Virtue of Paragraph 1: Information relating to any individual.

Condition:

Information is exempt to the extent that, in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Information is not exempt if it relates to proposed development for which the local planning authority may grant itself planning permission pursuant to Regulation 3 of the Town & Country Planning General Regulations 1992(a).

RESOLVED – That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Director of Early Intervention and Support submitted a report for Members to determine whether the applicant was a fit and proper person to hold a Private Hire (PHD) and Hackney Carriage Driver’s (HCD) Licence.

Before commencement of the meeting it was understood that the Empty Properties and Enforcement Officer had provided the applicant with the incorrect start time of the meeting. The applicant was contacted immediately via telephone and the meeting was rearranged for 12noon on the same day. The meeting was subsequently adjourned until 12noon.

The applicant attended the meeting at the rearranged time along with his wife to make their representations to the Sub-Committee. Their young child was also in attendance, however, due to the nature of the hearing and the Children Act 2004 which obliges Chorley Council to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child, it was agreed that the applicant’s wife would leave the room with their child. The Sub-Committee would allow the applicant’s wife to make representations later in the meeting and asked that the applicant leave the room to mind their child at this time. All parties were happy to progress with the meeting and the aforementioned arrangements.

The applicant made an application to Chorley Council in January 2018 under Section 51 and 59 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 for the grant of PHD and HCD Licences. A caution was revealed in the application process that falls within the Council’s Safeguarding, Suitability and Convictions Statement of Policy for Taxi Licensing. The applicant’s DBS Certificate revealed a caution for the offence of Battery in September 2015.

The applicant stated in discussion with Empty Properties and Enforcement Officer that he was not aware of the significance of this caution and was unsure why he had received it. It was explained that it was in relation to a domestic incident when the applicant and his wife got into an argument in the early hours of the morning, however their children were sleeping and therefore he went to bed. The applicant’s wife rang the police for help via 999 in anger; this led to the applicant being awoken by the police and arrested where he was formally charged before being taken to the police station for questioning. He was not aware that this would result in a recorded caution. The applicant’s wife was subsequently asked to give a statement to the police, however she refused.

The applicant is currently a taxi driver at another authority and revealed that this had not prevented him from being a licenced driver at the authority. Following police advice, the applicant contacted the authority via their switchboard a few days after the incident to inform them of the caution and he was assured that this message would get passed on.

The Empty Properties and Enforcement Officer submitted a request to the relevant authority to establish the applicant’s taxi history in relation to his application and caution. On 31 January 2018, the Principal Licensing Officer at the authority stated  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.LSC.148