Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:

1.    That Councillor Ballantyne be duly elected as chairman for the duration of this meeting.

Members and officers are reminded to make any decisions of disclosable pecuniary, personal or prejudicial interests they may have in respect of matters on the agenda for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

Consideration of late items as follows:

a)    Items added to the agenda papers and made available for public inspection;

b)    Items which the Chairman has agreed should be taken as matters of urgency by reason of special circumstances to be reported at the meeting.

There were no late items

That in accordance with section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (the Act) the public and the press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following item on the agenda for the reason that it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted that there would be disclosure to the public of “exempt” information” being information of the nature described in Paragraph 1 (information relating to any individual) of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in disclosing the information.

RESOLVED:

1.    That in accordance with section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 (the Act) the public and the press be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following item on the agenda for the reason that it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted that there would be disclosure to the public of “exempt” information” being information of the nature described in Paragraph 1 (information relating to any individual) of Part I of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in disclosing the information.

The Sub-Committee noted the hearing procedure.

Mr Knowles-Ley introduced the applicant, Mr AM, along with Mr MK, who was attending the Sub-Committee in order to support and assist his brother-in-law.

Mr Knowles-Ley explained that this Sub-Committee had been convened in order to consider and determine the application for a Private Hire driver’s license submitted by Mr AM. Mr AM’s application has been submitted under Section 51 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

Mr Knowles-Ley explained that there was no statutory national framework prescribing what forms, documents or certificates must be submitted by an applicant when applying for a driver’s licence under the Act, however Section 51 states that a Council shall not grant a licence unless they are satisfied that the applicant is a ‘fit and proper person to hold a driver’s licence’.

Mr Knowles-Ley explained that in order to provide a framework for the Council to ultimately determine whether an applicant is ‘fit and proper’, the council had historically developed and adopted on the 12^th October 2022 a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy for the Chichester district. The Policy sets out very clearly not only the overarching licensing framework that is to be applied in relation to the licensing of operators, vehicles and drivers, but also what specific criteria or requirements must be met by all applicants for each licence type. 

With respect to the various documents and certificates that had been provided by Mr AM, Mr Knowles-Ley confirmed that these had all been reviewed by officers and had been found to be acceptable.  Subsequent additional checks had been undertaken by officers including, for example, a check of the DVLA Driving Licence held by Mr AM along with a check of the National Register of Taxi Licence Revocations and Refusals (NR3) in order to confirm that Mr AM had not either had an application for a driver’s licence refused or revoked by another Council.  Mr Knowles-Ley confirmed that no issues of concern had been identified.

Mr Knowles-Ley advised that it is a requirement that where an applicant for a driver’s licence has resided outside of the UK in the last 5 years, that a Certificate of Good Conduct (with certified English translation) is provided by the applicant from the UK Embassy or Consulate of the relevant country.  In view of Mr AM having stated on his application form that he resided outside of the UK between 31^st August 1982 and 21^st September 2019 he had been requested to provide an appropriate Certificate of Good Conduct.

Mr AM subsequently agreed to make the necessary enquiries with respect to obtaining a Certificate of Good Conduct, however he did at the outset express serious concerns regarding his personal safety in doing so given he had arrived in the UK with refugee status in September 2019.  Mr AM subsequently advised on the 14^th June 2023 that his friend had contacted the Iranian Embassy and had identified that in order to obtain a Certificate of Good Conduct, that Mr AM would have to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.