To receive apologies for absence (to include reasons, where appropriate) from Members/Officers.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Member for the reason so stated:-

To receive for approval the public minutes of a Licensing Sub-Committee of 24 June and 25 June 2014.

RESOLVED:         That the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee of 24 June and the minutes of the Special Meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee of 25 June 2014 be approved as a true and accurate record.

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008

None.

The Assistant Chief Executive - Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, regarding an application by Mr Chris Jenkins to licence a Skoda Rapid vehicle registration number CF63 OFS as a hackney carriage vehicle to seat four persons.  

            The applicant was present in support of his application and the Sub-Committee inspected the vehicle.  On inspecting the vehicle, the mileage was confirmed as 38 miles.

            The Sub-Committee was informed by the Licencing and Registration Officer that the date of the first registration of the vehicle was 30 January 2014.  As the vehicle was less than 12 months old and had less than 10,000 miles recorded there was no service history provided. 

            The application fell outside the Policy Guidelines for the first licensing of vehicles and which would normally be refused, however a relaxation of the Policy may be considered in exceptional circumstances.

            The applicant informed the Sub-Committee that he had acquired this vehicle to replace an older vehicle in his fleet and that this vehicle had been on the forecourt of the dealership since its first registration.

            The Sub-Committee retired to consider the application further and on their return it was

RESOLVED:         The Sub-Committee considered the application to licence a Skoda Rapid vehicle registration number CF63 OFS as a hackney carriage vehicle to seat four persons and granted the licence in view of the exceptional quality of the vehicle.

The Assistant Chief Executive - Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, regarding an application by Mr Richard David Singleton to licence a black Mercedes Benz vehicle registration number SIL 66 as a private hire vehicle to seat four persons.       

            The applicant was present in support of his application and on inspecting the vehicle the Sub-Committee confirmed the mileage as being 58,926 miles.

            The Sub-Committee was informed by the Licensing and Registration Officer that the vehicle is pre-owned being first registered at the DVLA on 30 March 2011.  The applicant had provided a full service history with the application and an MOT certificate which was carried out on 28 March 2014 at 24,768 miles. The application fell outside the Policy Guidelines for the first licensing of vehicles and which would normally be refused, however a relaxation of the Policy may be considered in exceptional circumstances.

            The applicant informed the Sub-Committee that he intended to use the vehicle within his chauffeur business and since acquiring the vehicle had used it on a private contract for a specific job every day which had significantly contributed to the high mileage.  He had also used the vehicle as a wedding car and at funerals.  In the event of his application being successful, he intended to use the vehicle for airport runs, particularly to Heathrow Airport, which was the bulk of his business.

            The applicant informed the Sub-Committee that there had been a long delay with the DVLA in getting the car registered as it was originally purchased in the applicant’s company’s name, which delayed him in applying for a private hire vehicle licence.

            The Sub-Committee retired to consider the application further and upon their return it was

RESOLVED:         That the Sub-Committee considered the application to licence a  Mercedes Benz vehicle registration number SIL 66 as a Private Hire Vehicle to seat four persons.  Although the application was outside the Policy, the Sub-Committee had considered the exceptional quality of the vehicle and granted the licence.

The Assistant Chief Executive - Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, regarding an application by Mr James Bickerstaff to licence a Vauxhall Insignia, vehicle registration number B15 CKE as a private hire vehicle to seat 4 persons       

            The Applicant was present in support of his application and on inspecting the vehicle the Sub-Committee confirmed mileage as being 87,135 miles.

                        The Sub-Committee was informed by the Licensing and Registration Officer that the vehicle is pre-owned and was first registered at the DVLA on 1 June 2010.  The Applicant had provided a full service history for the vehicle, but had not provided an MOT certificate, although had confirmed to the Sub-Committee that he was in possession of a valid MOT certificate.  The application fell outside the Policy Guidelines for the first licensing of vehicles and which would normally be refused, however a relaxation of the Policy may be considered in exceptional circumstances.

            The Applicant informed the Sub-Committee that he had intended purchasing a brand new vehicle; however the cost had been prohibitive and had purchased this vehicle instead.  He also informed the Sub-Committee that he drives for Driven Taxis of Porthcawl.

            The Sub-Committee retired to consider the application further and on their return it was

RESOLVED:         That the Sub-Committee considered the application to licence a Vauxhall Insignia vehicle registration number B15 CKE as a private hire vehicle.  The Sub-Committee considered that in light of the above and having considered the condition and appearance of the vehicle and the statements made the by the Applicant granted the application for a Private Hire Vehicle License in view of the exceptional quality of the vehicle.

The minutes/reports relating to the following items are not for publication as they contain exempt information as defined in Paragraph 12 of Part 4 and/or Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information)(Variation)(Wales) Order 2007.

If following the application of the public interest test the Committee resolves pursuant to the Act to consider these items in private, the public will be excluded from the meeting during such consideration.

RESOLVED:                     That under section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business as it contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 12 of Part 4, and Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Following the application of the public interest test it was resolved that pursuant to the Act referred to above to consider this item in private, with the public excluded from the meeting, as it was considered that in all the circumstances relating to the item, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, because the information would be prejudicial to the applicants.

To receive for approval the confidential minutes of a Licensing Sub-Committee of 24 June 2014

RESOLVED:            That the confidential minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee of 24 June 2014 be approved as a true and accurate record.

The Assistant Chief Executive - Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a confidential report regarding the following application for the renewal of a licence to drive Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles.

          Mr Aminur Rashid

          24 Hillsboro Place, Porthcawl, Bridgend

          The applicant appeared before the Sub-Committee and confirmed his name and address and the accuracy of the report and was offered the opportunity to make representations in support of his application.

          The Licensing and Registration Officer asked the applicant whether he was aware of any pending proceedings, including summonses, fixed penalty notices or similar or any other circumstances which had changed since he had signed the declaration on the application form.  The applicant confirmed that there were no matters pending in the Courts, including summonses, fixed penalty notices or similar or any other circumstances. 

The Licensing and Registration Officer informed the Sub-Committee that the applicant had been summoned due to him being convicted of using a vehicle with a defective tyre, the offence being committed in July 2013, for which the applicant received a fine of £105 and his licence endorsed with three penalty points.  The Applicant informed the Sub-Committee that the conviction for a defective tyre arose after he was stopped whilst driving in Birmingham by the Police who had found a defective tyre on his vehicle.  He stated that he was driving his own vehicle which is a Skoda Superb which is a licensed hackney carriage by this Authority, but was driving the vehicle in a personal capacity at the time.  He informed the Sub-Committee that he had changed another tyre on his vehicle in the previous week at a garage in Aston in Birmingham and had been informed by the garage staff that the tyre which was found to be defective by the Police had two or three weeks use left.  Relying on this he only changed the one tyre and he continued driving the vehicle.  He pleaded guilty to the offence in Court.  He informed the Sub-Committee that his family reside in Birmingham and he had a house there and rented a room for his work in Porthcawl.  He also informed the Sub-Committee that at the time of the incident he had been driving in traffic and was stopped by the Police having driven through a traffic light signal along with other traffic and when stopped by the Police was found to have a defective tyre.

          The Licensing and Registration Officer questioned why the applicant had not declared a pending Court appearance in his application at the time of the submission of his application on 16 August 2013 and he was attending Court on 20 August 2013.  The Applicant stated that this was due to a misunderstanding on his part.  The Applicant informed the Sub-Committee that he worked mostly from Porthcawl at nights and during the day time from Bridgend Town Centre.

          In response to a question from the Sub-Committee, the Applicant stated that the traffic light signal which he had gone through was on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To consider any other item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in accordance with Rule 4 of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.