To consider the report of the Service Lead - Environmental Health & Community Safety.
Minutes:
The Chair introduced the Sub-Committee and the Legal Advisor set out the procedure for the hearing advising of the Council’s policy and the requirements under Section 48(1) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.
The Principal Licensing Officer presented an application to grant a Private Hire Vehicle licence in relation to a vehicle which was over 4 years old at initial licensing and could not be dealt with under delegated powers. The vehicle was a four passenger Mercedes-Benz, without wheel chair access, which had been first registered on 30 June 2011.
A vehicle MOT certificate had been submitted, dated 16 September 2020, with a recorded mileage of 96,674 miles. An independent mechanical inspection report had also been submitted, which was dated 24 November 2020 and the vehicle has been inspected by a Licensing Officer on 15 December 2020, which had been considered to be in a good condition. The vehicle had been previously plated by Exeter City Council on 13 November 2018, and remained licensed until 12 November 2020. An initial application to renew the vehicle was submitted on 19 November 2020 but the application was not duly made until 27 November 2020.
The Principal Licensing Officer explained the Taxi Policy, which stated that vehicles presented for a grant for a first private hire vehicle licence, which were more than for year’s old, should not be granted. The applicant would be given the right to apply for the application to be considered by a licensing sub-committee if they considered that their circumstances justified a deviation from the policy. As the vehicle had been previously licenced by Exeter City Council and the application to renew was not made un 27 November 2020, the application was being considered as a grant for a new licence.
The Applicant was in attendance and spoke in support of the application. He explained that his original licence had lapsed due to a delay in providing documents electronically, between himself and the Licensing Authority. During the Covid19 Pandemic and lockdown he was unable to work because of his wife’s underlying health issues and the need to self-isolate. Should his application be successful, he would look to purchase a new vehicle within the next 12 months.
In response to questions from the Members, the Legal Advisor and the Principal
Licensing Officer, the Applicant explained:
· that he was expecting to resume taxi work following the end of the current lockdown period and was expecting to undertake local pickups and some occasional longer distance pickups; and
· there were no issues with the vehicle, which was considered to be mechanically sound.
In response to questions from Members, the Principal Licensing Officer, explained that the vehicle had a temporary licence, which would run to the end of February 2020. Should the application be successful, it would commence from 10 November 2020 and run to November 2021.
RESOLVED in this instance the Licensing Sub-Committee exercised its discretion to depart from its Taxi Policy and grant the Application up to and including 10th December 2021. This was on the basis that there were exceptional circumstances as a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic and the vehicle was mechanically sound as evidenced by the independent mechanical inspection and the Licensing Authorities inspection confirmed the vehicle was in good condition.