Members resolved that Cllr McCheyne should chair this meeting of the sub-committee.

Members are respectfully reminded that, in determining the matters listed below, they are exercising an administrative function with the civil burden of proof, i.e. ‘on the balance of probabilities’.  The matter will be determined on the facts before the Sub-Committee and the rules of natural justice will apply.

Members were respectfully reminded that, in determining the matters under consideration, they were exercising an administrative function with the civil burden of proof, i.e. ‘on the balance of probabilities’. The matters were determined on the facts before the Sub-Committee and the rules of natural justice applied.

Members were requested to determine an application for the grant of an   Operator’s license to take bookings for a private hire vehicle within the  borough. The applicant did not currently qualify under the Council’s pre licensing conditions by virtue of not having held a license to drive private hire vehicles for a period of 2 years or more.

The applicant, Mr Heggie,  originally made an application for a Private Hire Operator’s Licence to work in Brentwood on 2^nd November 2015.

Private Hire Vehicle Operator’s Licence Pre-Licensing Conditions  stated that the  applicant should have been licensed as a Private Hire  or Hackney Carriage vehicle driver for at least two years within Brentwood prior to their first application. 

The applicant had never driven as a licensed driver within Brentwood and although he had made application to enable him to drive a licensed Hackney Carriage or Private Hire vehicle, he had not done so for the required 2 year period. This contravened the pre-licensing condition and therefore, the application had to be refused by officers.  Mr. Heggie had appealed the decision to refuse his application.

It was his intention that he would operate as an Operator/Driver Company based in Brentwood which would focus on a specialist clientele, e.g. large corporations, private jet rentals, executive hire etc. The application indicated that the vehicle being used by Mr Heggie was a Bentley which was not a vehicle that would be used for every day private hire work as with a standard private hire operation. 

If the license was granted, the applicant would be responsible for ensuring that he complied with the conditions and pre-conditions as laid out in paragraph  4.3 of the report, with the exception of any conditions that were relaxed by Members as a result of the application.

The nature of the business being operated by the applicant was such that it was not likely to raise any concern should the pre-licensing conditions be relaxed on this occasion.  The nature of delegation however, was such that only a Sub- committee had the power to divert from pre-licensing requirements and conditions.

The matters for consideration were set out in note 2 of the pre-conditions which stated:

‘All relevant information will be taken into account when consideration is given to an application for a Private Hire Vehicle Operator’s Licence, and it may be that the standards and requirements are waived or amended or added to at the discretion of the Council’.

There was a duty for each application to be considered on its own merits and this meant that pre-licensing conditions were able to be diverted from if Members considered it appropriate to do so in the individual circumstances of the application.

One of the key considerations in determination of this application was whether the nature of the business that Mr Heggie wished to operate was such that Members did not consider there to be any relevance to applying the restriction in this case on the basis that this business was not a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 311.