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 1 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.

Report of the Director (Customer and Digital) enclosed.

The Director of Customer and Digital submitted a report for Members to consider whether the licence holder remained a fit and proper person to hold his Private Hire, Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Operator Licences as well as any vehicle licences which he may hold.

The licence holder and his representative were both present to make their representations to the Sub-Committee.

Members were informed that on 30 April 2018, the licence holder rang Chorley Council to report that he had been involved in an accident on 28 April 2018 at approximately 4.00am.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer inspected the vehicle on 1 May 2018 at the Union Street offices. Photographs were taken of the vehicle to highlight the accident damage; these were included in the report. Following Member queries, it was confirmed that the licence holder was issued a defect notice in order to get his vehicle repaired. He was able to continue driving the vehicle during this time.

The licence holder also completed the required Accident Report Form on 1 May 2018 at the council officer’s request. In this form it was explained that the licence holder was driving when he dropped a drinks bottle into the foot well towards the car pedals. When the licence holder went to remove the bottle, he stated that he lost control of the vehicle and veered to the other side of the road before going up a verge and hitting the fence/bushes. It was confirmed later in the meeting that there was no actual contact between the licence holder’s vehicle and the vehicle parked at the property; the post that was hit subsequently fell onto the parked vehicle.

The licence holder informed the Licensing Enforcement Officer that CCTV footage of the incident had been uploaded to social media. The Members of the Sub-Committee viewed the footage at the meeting. The footage illustrated the collision and the dry, clear weather conditions were noted.

The Licensing Enforcement Officer indicated that the licence holder left the scene of the accident on 28 April at approximately 4.00am but returned on Sunday, 29 April to the address of the damaged property and vehicle to reveal his details to the owner of the property and vehicle identified in the CCTV.

Members were reminded that whilst it was late at the time of the incident, contact details could have been left at the accident site address, however they were not. It was also recognised that no attempt was made during Saturday, 28 April 2018 to contact the owner of the vehicle and property that was damaged. The Licensing Enforcement Officer reported that this information was made public before the licence holder returned to the site of the incident to provide his contact details on Sunday, 29 April. It was understood that the owner of the vehicle had subsequently accepted the licence holder’s offer to pay for any damages caused by payment of cash.

The licence holder’s representative indicated discrepancies with regards to timings included within the report and informed the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.LSC.152