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Private hire driver licence REFUSED over English language concerns and road offences
A private hire driver licence application has been refused after councillors raised concerns about the applicant’s command of English, road traffic offending and understanding of licensing requirements.
South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Licensing Review Panel considered the application at a hearing on Thursday 6 August. Representations were heard from the applicant and a licensing officer before the panel reached its decision.
The three-member panel, chaired by Councillor Sunita Hansraj, decided on the balance of probabilities that the applicant was not a fit and proper person to hold a private hire driver licence.
According to the published minutes, councillors were concerned that the applicant “did not appear to have a sufficient command of the English language to fully comply with the conditions of a private hire driver licence without the support of a third party”.
The panel also found that oral evidence provided by the applicant did not correspond with the legislation in force at the relevant time. Members said this led them to consider that the applicant appeared to have been dishonest in the evidence given during the hearing.
Further concerns related to “multiple road offences” and several incidents involving a lack of awareness or failure to comply with the law. The minutes do not identify the offences, provide the dates on which they occurred or state whether penalty points remained active.
Councillors additionally found that the applicant had failed to understand and accurately complete the council’s private hire driver application form. The applicant was not named in the published record.
The panel considered Section 51 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, the Department for Transport’s Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards and South Cambridgeshire District Council’s hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy.
