Minutes:
The Licensing Sub-Committee was asked to consider whether Applicant (Reference 01-14) was a fit and proper person to be granted a private hire drivers licence.
Mick Sims, Licensing Manager, summarised the background to the application where Thames Valley Police (TVP) had highlighted the existence of ‘other relevant information’ on a DBS certificate leading to the referral of the application to the Sub-Committee. The Applicant had advised that he was currently licensed with Cherwell District Council and that he wished to be licensed by Slough Borough Council as had moved to the area.
The Officer advised that the Applicant had previously received a fixed penalty notice, had committed two driving offences and was stopped in Slough during a taxi check operation and found to have a defective tyre. At this time it was discovered that he was working for a Slough Operator and regularly worked in Slough.
The Sub-Committee was advised that the DBS certificate indicated that a number of separate allegations were against the Applicant but TVP were unable to pursue any further action due to lack of witnesses and parties willing to act as a witness. TVP considered however that the information disclosed indicated that the Applicant may pose a risk and this outweighed any prejudicial impact to the Applicant.
The Applicant addressed the Sub-Committee and denied the accusations. He advised that his Solicitor had contacted the DBS in July to ask why the alleged incidents were added to the certificate eight years after they allegedly took place when no charges were ever made, but no response had been received. The Applicant made reference to his financial circumstances but the Officer reminded the Sub-Committee that this was not a relevant consideration in determining his application review (the case of Cherwell District Council v Anwar had dealt with this issue).
The Sub-Committee asked the Applicant a number of questions of detail. The Applicant denied that any of the alleged incidents took place and he requested that the Sub-Committee grant him a licence.
The Sub-Committee carefully considered all the evidence at its disposal. The Sub-Committee was aware that a person need not necessarily have been convicted or cautioned in respect of a criminal offence for their behaviour to be taken into account when deciding whether to grant a Licence.
Having carefully considered all the evidence the Sub Committee:
Resolved – That the Applicant’s (Ref 01-14) Private Hire Licence application be refused.