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 of Customer and Digital.

The Director of Customer and Digital submitted a report for the General Licensing Sub-Committee to determine whether the Licence Holder remained a fit and proper person to hold a licence.

The Licence Holder and his legal representative were present at the Sub-Committee. The complainant was also present via a video link.

The Licensing Officer outlined his report and the circumstances of the complaint. He corrected a date included on one of the appendices and played a recording of the booking being taken. He reported that there had been changes over the course of the journey to the number of drop-off points and to the fare, and that although the Licence Holder believed all three passengers to be drunk there was evidence to suggest the complainant had been sober. The Licensing Officer also highlighted an “odd response” made by the Licence Holder when he was interviewed under caution stating that he drives with “two hands on the steering wheel”. In response to questions from the Council’s Legal Officer, the Licensing Officer confirmed that it was in his opinion that the Licence Holder’s statement was an odd response.

In response to questions from the Licence Holder’s legal representative, the Licensing Officer confirmed that he had not had any contact with the complainant on the day of the incident and did not speak to her until a few days afterwards, and that, when interviewing under caution, some disclosure of the incident is made. With regards to other enquiries made, the Licensing Officer confirmed he had been in contact with the other passengers of that journey but had not contacted the other driver mentioned on the night of the journey.

The complainant requested that her statement be read out by the Enforcement Team Leader (Licensing) on her behalf. This statement was included in the agenda papers and was read out in full. In response to questions from the Sub-Committee the complainant confirmed that the first taxi had been turned away as her friend did not want to pay the quoted fare, even when the complainant offered to pay on her behalf. She advised that she wished she had moved to the back of the car after drop-offs had been made and, when asked if the driver’s behaviour could have been something else, stated that it had been sexual misconduct as “if it had been something else I wouldn’t have felt like that”.

In response to questions from the Council’s Legal Officer, the complainant advised she had been contacted by a police officer who told her that officers were looking into her complaint and that it had happened to two other people, and that she had passed this information on to Chorley Licensing Officers. The Council’s Legal Officer advised the Sub-Committee that Lancashire Police had been contacted and had confirmed that there were no past investigations or allegations of sexual misconduct concerning the Licence Holder. With regards to the complainant not wanting the driver to know her address and leaving the car early, the complainant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.41