Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Stephen Platt, Democratic Services Officer
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Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman To elect the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Licensing Sub-Committee of the Licensing and Safety Committee for the 2015/16 municipal year. Minutes: Decision:
It was agreed that Councillor Mrs Chambers be elected Chairman and Councillor Carr be appointed as Vice Chairman of the Sub-Committee for the 2015/2016 municipal year. |
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To approve the record of the meeting held on 31 May 2013. Minutes: The record of the meeting held on 31 May 2013 was agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record. |
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Apologies for absence Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Godwin and Hall. |
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Urgent matters by reason of special circumstances The Chairman will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report.
Minutes: There were none. |
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Declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests and other interests A member need only disclose at any meeting the existence of a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) in a matter to be considered at that meeting if that DPI has not been entered on the disclosable pecuniary interests register maintained by the Monitoring Officer.
A member disclosing a DPI at a meeting must thereafter notify the Monitoring Officer in writing of that interest within 28 days from the date of disclosure at the meeting.
A member may not participate in a discussion of or vote on any matter in which he or she has a DPI (both those already registered and those disclosed at the meeting) and must withdraw from the room during such discussion/vote.
Members may choose to voluntarily disclose a DPI at a meeting even if it is registered on the council’s register of disclosable pecuniary interests but there is no legal requirement to do so.
Members should also ensure they disclose any other interests which may give rise to a conflict under the council’s code of conduct.
In line with the training provided to members by the Monitoring Officer members will also need to consider bias and pre-determination in certain circumstances and whether they have a conflict of interest or should otherwise leave the room for Code reasons. Minutes: Disclosable pecuniary interests
There were none.
Other interests
There were none. |
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Exclusion of the press and public This report summarises the content of agenda item 7, which, in the opinion of the proper officer, contains exempt information within three of the categories in Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972. It is a matter for the Sub-Committee to determine whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of documents. Minutes: Decision:
That the press and public are excluded from the meeting during consideration of agenda item 7 because consideration of this matter in public would disclose information falling within paragraphs 1, 2 and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 as specified in agenda item 6 and the Sub-Committee considered that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information. |
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Review of Hackney Carriage Driver's Licence The report requests the sub-committee to consider an appeal against a decision to refuse to renew a hackney carriage driver’s licence. Minutes: Discussion:
The Senior Licensing and Enforcement Officer asked the Sub-Committee to consider Mr H’s appeal against the decision to refuse to renew his hackney carriage driver’s licence.
The Sub-Committee was advised that the Licensing Unit had received an application from Mr H to renew his hackney carriage driver licence and that on the application he had declared an offence for which he had been convicted. As part of the renewals process, the Council had obtained a Disclosure and Barring Services disclosure which recorded this conviction but also others that had not been declared by Mr H.
The Senior Licensing and Enforcement Officer presented her report to the Sub-Committee, highlighting the very high standards that the Council expected from its licensed drivers. She referred Members to the full details of Mr H’s offences set out in Appendix C to the agenda report. Mr H addressed the Sub-Committee to make representations in mitigation.
Both parties to the hearing left the room and the Sub-Committee considered the matter taking into account all written representations and those made at the hearing by the Senior Licensing and Enforcement Officer and by Mr H.
Decision:
Mr H was advised that Medway Council expects high standards from its licensed drivers. The Sub-Committee was satisfied that Mr H did not present a risk to the travelling public but was concerned that he had failed to notify the Council of all of his convictions.
Having regard to all the information and evidence before it, the Sub-Committee agreed to renew Mr H’s hackney carriage driver’s licence for a period of 1 year. After this period, if no cause for concern arose during the renewal process, Mr H would be issued with a standard three year licence. The Sub-Committee further agreed that a written warning be placed on Mr H’s record. |