Agenda and minutes

Venue: The Council Chamber at The Guildhall, St Giles Square, Northampton, NN1 1DE

Contact: Richard Woods / Maisie McInnes, Democratic Services 

Items
No. Item

1.

Declarations of Interest

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

Minutes:

There were none.

2.

Urgent Business

The Chairman to advise whether they have agreed to any items of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

3.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The following report(s) contain exempt information as defined in the following paragraph(s) of Part 1, Schedule 12A of Local Government Act 1972.

 

Paragraph 1 – Information relating to any individual.

 

Members are reminded that whilst the following item(s) have been marked as exempt, it is for the meeting to decide whether or not to consider each of them in private or in public. In making the decision, members should balance the interests of individuals or the Council itself in having access to the information. In considering their discretion members should also be mindful of the advice of Council Officers.

 

Should Members decide not to make a decision in public, they are recommended to resolve as follows:

 

“That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that, if the public and press were present, it would be likely that exempt information falling under the provisions of Schedule 12A, Part I, Paragraph 1 would be disclosed to them, and that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.”

Minutes:

The Chair moved that the remainder of the meeting be held in private:

 

That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that, if the public and press were present, it would be likely that exempt information falling under the provisions of Schedule 12A, Part I, Paragraph(s) 3 would be disclosed to them, and that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

 

RESOLVED: Members agreed that the public and press were excluded from the remainder of the meeting and the Pensions Committee moved into private session.

 

4.

Application for a Private Hire Driver's Licence - Mr Ali

Exempt report of the Senior Licensing Enforcement Officer

Minutes:

At the Chair’s invitation, the Licensing Officer presented the report to the Licensing Committee which detailed that Mr Ali submitted a new Private Hire Driver application to the Council on 1 November 2020. He explained as the Licensing Committee had previously revoked Mr Ali’s licence on 4 December 2018, his application was referred to the Licensing Committee for a decision.

 

Members discussed the report, and the Chair thanked the Licensing Officer for summarising the report and invited the applicant, Mr Ali to make a representation to the committee. Mr Ali addressed the Licensing Committee and stated that it had been two years since the previous convictions and things were different now and he had changed. He shared that he was experiencing a difficult time with family and finances in 2018.

 

Members raised concerns as they did not feel his representation was sincere.

 

The Licensing Committee adjourned so they could make their decision.

 

The Committee had carefully considered the information in the report, the presentations made by the applicant at the hearing and the responses to the questions asked of the licence holder.

 

RESOLVED: That Members determined that Mr Ali’s licence application should be REFUSED.

5.

Application for a Private Hire Driver’s Licence - Mr Macarthur

Exempt report of the Senior Licensing Enforcement Officer

Minutes:

At the Chair’s invitation, the Licensing Officer presented the report to the Licensing Committee which detailed that Mr Macarthur submitted a new Private Hire Driver application to the Council on 10 June 2021. He explained that Mr McArthur was formerly a Private Hire Driver and issued with a licence on 21 November 2011. On 20 November 2015, Mr Macarthur’s licence was revoked in the interest of public safety after Mr Macarthur was convicted of battery.

 

Members discussed the report, and the Chair thanked the Licensing Officer for summarising the report and invited the applicant, Mr Macarthur to make a representation to the committee. Mr Macarthur addressed the Licensing Committee and admitted the seriousness of his offences, and explained the incident involving violence against a customer from his perspective.

 

The Licensing Committee adjourned so they could make their decision.

 

The Committee had carefully considered the information in the report, the presentations made by the applicant at the hearing and the responses to the questions asked of the licence holder.

 

RESOLVED: That Members determined that Mr Macarthur’s licence application should be REFUSED.

 

6.

Application for a Private Hire Driver’s Licence - Miss Weber

Exempt report of the Senior Licensing Enforcement Officer

Minutes:

At the Chair’s invitation, the Licensing Officer presented the report to the Licensing Committee which detailed that Miss Weber submitted a new Private Hire Driver application to the Council on 20 January 2020. He explained that as part of the application process, new applicants should declare any previous convictions and Mss Weber declared that she had a previous conviction of possessing a knife blade/sharp pointed article in a public space. However, she did not declare convictions of driving a motor vehicle with excess alcohol and a caution for assault occasioning actioning actual bodily harm.

 

Members discussed the report, and the Chair thanked the Licensing Officer for summarising the report and invited the applicant, Miss Weber to make a representation to the committee. Miss Weber addressed the Licensing Committee and stated that she believed the DBS check would be sufficient for disclosure and this was the reason for her not declaring all her convictions. She explained that the violence offence was a domestic incident and confirmed the drink driving offence occurred in 2008.

 

Members asked questions of the applicant and questioned her behaviour during the incident.

 

The Licensing Committee adjourned so they could make their decision.

 

The Committee had carefully considered the information in the report, the presentations made by the applicant at the hearing and the responses to the questions asked of the licence holder.

 

RESOLVED: That Members determined that Miss Weber’s licence application should be REFUSED.