Private hire driver licence REVOKED after child left in vehicle without parent
- Perry Richardson
- 13 minutes ago
- 3 min read
A private hire driver licensed by Uttlesford District Council has had their licence revoked following a formal review hearing after a complaint raised serious safeguarding concerns.
The Licensing and Environmental Health Committee heard that the incident arose from a customer complaint initially made to the driver’s employer and to Chelmsford City Council, before being passed to Uttlesford officers. The complainant also contacted Uttlesford District Council directly around the same time, triggering the review process.
Presenting the report, the Licensing Officer told councillors the complaint related to an incident at a busy supermarket pickup location. The driver had parked nearby and then moved to a petrol station at the customer’s request. Due to slow-moving traffic, the driver parked against the direction of travel and instructed the customer to load their child into the vehicle from the pavement side.
The driver told the panel they saw the child enter the rear of the vehicle and heard the door close, before pulling away. They said they did not realise the parent had not yet entered the vehicle and was standing behind the car waiting for a gap in traffic. The driver described the distance travelled as “a few feet” before the parent knocked on the door and removed the child, after which the driver cancelled the job.
A licensing panel has revoked a private hire driver’s licence with immediate effect after finding the driver drove off with a six-year-old child in the back seat before the parent had entered the vehicle
During questioning, the driver said they expected the parent to enter the vehicle with the child from the same side and were surprised they attempted to enter from the opposite side. They also stated that the vehicle’s seatbelt warning system did not activate and that the doors locked automatically once the vehicle moved off. The driver described themselves as a professional and cited heavy traffic conditions at the time.
After adjourning twice to consider its decision, the panel concluded unanimously that the driver was not a fit and proper person to continue to hold a private hire driver licence.
In its decision notice, the panel said the licence should be revoked with immediate effect under section 61(1)(b) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, citing “any other reasonable cause” in the interests of public safety .
The panel stated that “the fundamental purpose of the private hire vehicle licensing regime is to establish a position where passengers can use these vehicles with a high degree of confidence about their safety” and emphasised that public safety, particularly the safeguarding of children, must be treated as the paramount consideration.
In setting out its reasons, the panel noted that the driver “had not given due regard to the fact that one of the passengers was a child; a six-year-old female” and that it was incumbent on the driver to ensure all passengers were safely inside the vehicle before moving off. While acknowledging the driver’s efforts to provide a good customer experience, the panel concluded that safety had not been prioritised.
The decision notice records that the parent chased the vehicle and caught up with it after approximately 105 metres, allowing the child and parent to be reunited relatively quickly. However, the panel said this did not mitigate the seriousness of the incident.
In reaching its conclusion, the panel applied the standard test used in taxi and private hire licensing cases, asking whether it would allow a person they cared about to travel alone in a vehicle driven by the licence holder. The panel unanimously determined that it would not, based on the balance of probabilities.
The driver has the right to appeal the decision to Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court within 21 days of the date of the decision notice.
