ALL THINGS LICENSING THE BENEFITS OF CCTV
I’m looking forward to CCTV being installed in all Guildford licensed vehicles by April 2023 as is now required. The Statutory Standards state this is a matter for local decision, and it is the decision we have taken.
with the absence of convictions not necessarily meaning that there is nothing to consider; and finally the local authority cannot consider the impact of its decision on the livelihood of the driver, the only concern of the authority being one of public safety.
However now the position is also very clear in that when a local authority is balancing up information prior to making a decision, even if the authority is 50/50 as to whether they should grant a licence or allow a licence to be maintained, the driver should not be given the benefit of the doubt.
Returning to the scenario in the mock hearing, this dealt with a driver who had no complaints on record for well over ten years, however they had been the subject of a serious allegation of sexual assault, ultimately causing the authority to revoke the licence.
This is a scenario which I have dealt with on several occasions during my career; leading the questions about how the local authority should respond in these cases: On one hand it has considerable history of compliance; on the other, a serious complaint from a person who has come forward in their own time and of their own volition.
Complaints are made to the licensing authority for all sorts of reasons, and in cases where complainants have gone so far as to make a statement to the police then considerable weight should be given to this. However, as with any investigation the strength of the evidence needs to be investigated. The driver also needs to be given the opportunity to put their version of events across, at which point the local authority will balance the seriousness and credibility of the complaint against the driver’s explanation and history.
As I noted earlier, not giving drivers the benefit of the doubt has set the bar considerably higher and emphasised that a precautionary approach is often taken.
This, I’m sure has placed many drivers in difficult circumstances and really only adds weight to the calls for all vehicles to be fitted with CCTV so that a true record of events can be captured, saving time for drivers and investigators, be it the police or local authority.
PHTM NOVEMBER 2022
Firstly, because Guildford has a vibrant night time economy with three higher educational institutions. We also are proud to hold the Purple Flag award recognising Guildford as a safe place for a night out. Safety, particularly that of women, is currently very topical and we have always been keen to set high standards to improve public confidence in the licensed trade.
Secondly, the licensed trade was not averse to the idea. During consultation the majority of respondents agreed with the installation of CCTV and as over half of the respondents were members of the trade this shows that some must have agreed it was a good idea.
I am sure this will provide huge reassurance to much of the trade. We regularly receive complaints from drivers about issues they encounter such as physical/verbal assaults, runners, or bad driving and CCTV can address these concerns and improve their safety.
We also regularly receive complaints about drivers, and when I first joined Guildford, drivers occasionally refused to discuss complaints unless there was CCTV of the incident and a full statement was provided to the council. As I advised previously, case law is very clear in that all information, including complaints from the public, can be considered. Occasionally complaints are of a serious nature; I recall one year we received five allegations of sexual assault against drivers in a matter of weeks, where each one had their licence revoked for reasons of public safety. Whilst none were convicted, a few have not received their licence back due to the assessment of the balance of probabilities.
IoL: NATIONAL TRAINING CONFERENCE
Finally, I am looking forward to the IoL’s showpiece national training event taking place on 16-18 November in Stratford-upon-Avon. The conference will include a huge range of topic areas, with over 50 sessions across the three days, delivered by expert speakers and panellists. There will undoubtedly be many areas of interest for the taxi and private hire trade and at the time of writing there are still a few delegate places left.
To learn more and to register to attend, please visit the IoL National Training Conference website.
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