ALL THINGS LICENSING
Article by Mike Smith, Senior Specialist for Licensing and Community Safety at Guildford Borough Council and Vice-Chair of the Institute of Licensing South East Region.
Please note that this article represents my own views and are not presented as the views of the IoL or Guildford Borough Council.
LICENCE SHOPPING – TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY
I wanted to firstly commend Adam Ward, Principal Licensing Officer at Hertsmere Borough Council on his excellent article setting out the perspective of a local authority on licence shopping. As my local authority has concerns with vehicles licensed elsewhere working in our borough I couldn’t have put the other side across any better myself.
‘Out of Area’ working is a huge issue for many councils as the ‘smaller’ authorities struggle with resources, enforcement powers and expectations, this is an issue which, in the absence of government direction, will only be resolved by co-operation. In December’s issue of PHTM I will cover some of the measures which could be looked at in order to improve this situation, which in some areas is becoming increasingly desperate.
LICENSING HEARINGS – TWO SIDES TO EVERY STORY
This month however, I wanted to reflect upon the recent Taxi Conference, having found myself in the rather unusual situation of playing the role of a private hire driver during a ‘mock’ hearing put on during the event to demonstrate good practice in conducting such a scenario.
The scenario played out at the Taxi Conference was one where I, playing the part of the licensed driver, was appearing before the sub-committee to consider whether any action should be taken against my licence on the basis of a serious allegation made against me by a lone female passenger at the end of a journey home after a night out.
The matter had been discontinued by the police and I was not charged with any offence, however I was called to appear before the Sub-Committee on the basis of the statement provided by the passenger to the police and then in turn to the licensing authority. It was my role to present my explanation of events for the Sub- Committee’s consideration and determination.
76
In my role as a licensing professional I have been involved in many hearings to consider new applications and the suitability of existing licence holders over the years, with this year having been particularly busy for hearings in Guildford. Each hearing is different, however will no doubt be difficult for the individual sitting in front of members of the sub-committee with their fate in its hands.
The hearing will represent an opportunity for the driver to put their version of events forward and provide the members with any other relevant information in order to assist them to make their decision.
Whilst appearing before a hearing can appear daunting, and perhaps in some cases drivers will feel it is unfair, I would always reiterate that being a licensed driver entails a level of responsibility, together with an expectation around conduct, and so straying into other areas and coming across as being unprofessional are unlikely to stand you in good stead when a decision is made. I would therefore advocate having someone to support you if possible, and in cases where there is some justification to a complaint, accepting responsibility and offering members a solution, such as undertaking further training as mitigation, will very often be a better position to start from than attempting to deny involvement.
EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT
In my talk on Effective Enforcement at the Taxi Conference, I discussed investigating a number of drivers for traffic offences where they had deliberately obstructed the highway but when questioned, a minority denied they were involved, despite CCTV covering the area clearly showing them committing the offence. However had these individuals accepted responsibility for their actions, expressed regret and a desire not to repeat such conduct, and perhaps off their own bat undertaken some remedial training then it is entirely probable that the committee would have imposed a lesser sanction.
THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT
The publication of the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Standards in July 2020 has really seen a shift in how local authority decisions in such cases are made. Up until this point, case law had always been clear that the local authority cannot look behind a conviction; can use all information at its disposal to make a decision,
NOVEMBER 2022 PHTM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
