Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this agenda.

No declarations of interest were made.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on 6 April 2023 and 25 April 2023.

The Committee agreed the minutes of the meetings held on 6 April 2023 and 25 April 2023 as a correct record.

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

The Committee agreed to note the Appointment of Councillor Dylan Tippetts as Chair and Councillor Ian Tuffin as Vice Chair of the Taxi Licensing Committee for 2023/24.

The Committee will be provided with the results of the judgement on appeal cases that went to Court.

There were no appeal cases.

The Committee will be provided with the Number of Certificates of Good Conduct Exemptions Granted.

There were no Certificates of Good Conduct Exemptions to report.

Graham Hooper introduced the report on the request of delegate authority to deal with initial driver applications with No Certificate of Good Conduct and highlighted:-

(a)   Plymouth City Council could not grant a licence to a hackney carriage or private hire driver or a private hire operator unless they were satisfied that the applicant is a “fit and proper person”;

(b)  The main consideration in reaching a decision on whether an applicant is a fit and proper person is the consideration of any criminal convictions, cautions or conduct. That information is obtained through a DBS certificate;

(c)   The DBS could not access criminal records held overseas, therefore, where an applicant had resided outside of the UK for a period in excess of 3 months since the age of 18 years old, that applicant was required to produce a Certificate of Good Conduct (COGC) to account for that period;

(d)  The production of a COGC where an applicant had lived outside of the UK for a continuous period of 3 months or more since the age of 18 is one of the pre-requisite tests outlined in the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2022. That same policy stated that no licence could be granted until all these pre requisites have been successfully completed;

(e)  There was an expectation that all Licensing Authorities follow the recommendations set out in the statutory guidance of the   Department of Transport Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards (Statutory Standards) 2020 unless there is a compelling local reason not to;

(f)    Those recommendations included the guidance at 4.35 “Licensing authorities should seek or require applicants provide where possible criminal records information or a “Certificate of Good Character” from overseas in this circumstance (where an applicant has previously spent an extended period outside the UK) to properly assess risk and support the decision-making process;

(g)   The recommendations also stated that as with all licensing decisions, each case must be considered on its own merits;

(h)  The Home Office guidance had been issued by the Government specifically on how to obtain overseas criminality information for use when considering the requirements of the UK Immigration Rules but it was clear that this information cannot be obtained from all countries;

(i)    There was no guidance provided either by the Home Office guidance or the Department of Transport in dealing with applications from asylum seekers, refugees or others who are unable to obtain COGC’s where, for example, contacting their embassy or other official agency would place them or their family in danger;

(j)    Additional information on this issue had been sought by the Taxi Licensing Team from the Home Office Immigration Team. They advise that if an applicant has refugee status, then they would be considered as stateless by the UK and are no longer able to gain assistance from their originating embassy;

(k)  If a refugee had suffered state persecution, these are additional reasons not to contact the embassy as the embassy would be unwilling to provide a COGC  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

To consider passing a resolution under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972 to exclude the press and the public from the meeting for the following items of business, on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The Committee agreed to pass a resolution under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, to exclude the press and the public from the meeting for the following items of business, on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act, as amended by the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

To confirm the confidential minutes of the meetings held on 6 April 2023 and 25 April 2023.

The Committee agreed the confidential minutes of 6 April 2023 and 25 April 2023 as a correct record.

Members agreed to grant the application for a private hire driver’s licence subject to the completion of the VRQ in “Transporting Passengers by Taxi and Private Hire” or its equivalent within 12 months of the licence being granted. Failure to complete may result in sanctions including the consideration of revocation of the licence.

(Please note, there is a confidential part to this minute)

Members agreed to grant the application for a private hire driver’s licence subject to the completion of the VRQ in “Transporting Passengers by Taxi and Private Hire” or its equivalent within 12 months of the licence being granted. Failure to complete may result in sanctions including the consideration of revocation of the licence.

(Please note, there is a confidential part to this minute)