.jpg)
Middlesbrough Council grants operator licence for SEND school transport specialist despite premises questions
Middlesbrough Council’s Licensing Committee has granted a Private Hire Operator Licence to a new company, allowing it to undertake licensed private hire work in the borough.
The application, considered on 7 September, was made by a company director. The business told the committee it mainly provides home-to-school transport, including journeys for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities and children in care.
The company already held operator licences from other local authorities. Its director said it had operated for about four years and expanded into neighbouring areas, including North Yorkshire and Stockton. The Middlesbrough licence would allow it to work with locally licensed drivers and take on work it had previously turned down.
The committee heard that the company’s work was mainly secured through government contract tenders. Journeys generally ran on long-term contracts with fixed collection and drop-off times during the school year.
Planning restrictions meant the proposed premises could not operate as a traditional private hire office. The licence was therefore granted with conditions stating that the site could be used only as an administrative base and postal address.
No booking staff or telephone operators may work from the premises. Customers may not visit or wait there, and private hire drivers and vehicles may not attend. The applicant accepted those arrangements.
The council said checks had found no complaints, enforcement action, suspensions, revocations or other regulatory concerns relating to the company or its directors. The applicant had completed the required Disclosure and Barring Service checks, safeguarding training, right-to-work checks and the Private Hire Operator Knowledge Test. Planning officers raised no objection to the proposed use.
The committee concluded that the applicant was a fit and proper person to hold the licence and that the application met the standards required by the council’s policy. The decision was made under section 55 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.
