STIRLING COUNCIL
MINUTES of SPECIAL MEETING of the PLANNING & REGULATION PANEL held in the
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, OLD VIEWFORTH, STIRLING on MONDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2018
at 12.30 pm
Present
Councillor Chris KANE (in the Chair)
Councillor Maureen BENNISON
Councillor Douglas DODDS
Councillor Graham LAMBIE
Councillor Jeremy McDONALD
In Attendance
Shona Campbell, Licensing Paralegal (Localities & Infrastructure)
Lindsay Fyfe, Licensing Standards Officer (Localities & Infrastructure)
Ruth McColgan, Lead Solicitor – Communities & Young People (Localities & Infrastructure)
David McDougall, Governance Officer (Localities & Infrastructure) (Clerk)
Mary Love, Committee Officer (Localities & Infrastructure)
Also Present
PS Claire MacKenzie, Police Scotland
PL83 APOLOGIES AND SUBSTITUTIONS
Apologies were received on behalf of Councillor Alasdair MacPherson, Councillor Neil Benny, Councillor Alastair Berrill and Councillor Evelyn Tweed.
PL84 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
There were no declarations of interest.
The Committee resolved under Section 50A (4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act
1973 that the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business
on the grounds they involved the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 6 and 13, of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
The purpose of the report was to provide context to the Planning & Regulation Panel of the circumstances leading to the immediate suspension of the licence holder’s taxidriver’s licence and the steps and procedures which were taken at the Planning & Regulation Panel hearings held in the interim, which resulted in the licence holder’s licence being suspended.
On 25 August 2017 Police Scotland lodged a complaint under Section 12(1) Schedule
1 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 and requested the immediate
suspension of the licence holder’s taxi driver’s licence following an incident captured on CCTV on 5 July 2017. The immediate suspension was implemented under delegated authority. This Panel, convened on 22 September 2017, elected to suspend the licence holder’s licence pending the outcome of pleading and intermediate diets for criminal proceedings lodged against the licence holder. These were due to be held on
20 October 2017 and 7 November 2017 respectively. A new Planning & Regulation Panel date was scheduled for 9 November 2017 to consider the matter again.
The licence holder attended a meeting of the Panel on 9 November 2017. The Panel took the decision again to suspend the licence holder’s taxi driver’s licence on that date until the conclusion of the licence holder’s criminal trial, which had been postponed until January 2018. Following the disposal of the licence holder’s criminal proceedings on the 17 January 2018, this Special Panel was scheduled for the 12 February 2018.
The licence holder appealed the decisions made by this Panel on the 22 September 2017 and the 9 November 2017 respectively. On both occasions, the court refused to lift the licence holder’s suspension on an interim basis. The appeal against the decision made on 9 November 2017 was still ongoing and was next due to be heard at Stirling Sheriff Court on 20 February 2018.
The Lead Solicitor outlined the process on how the meeting would be conducted. The licence holder, along with a representative from Police Scotland and the Panel would review the CCTV footage supplied by Police Scotland as not all Panel Members had viewed the footage previously. Both Police Scotland and the licence holder would be given an opportunity to address the Panel in relation to the licence holder’s fitness to
hold the licence. All parties confirmed they understood the process, and had no questions about it.
Panel Members and those in attendance watched the CCTV footage of the incident on 5 July 2017.
The Lead Solicitor went on to summarise the report and responded to questions from the Panel.
The Panel heard from the representative of Police Scotland, who provided an update on matters since the previous Planning & Regulation Panel Meeting on 9 November 2017 and confirmed that the licence holder had pled guilty and had been convicted on 17 January 2018 and received a fine. No further offences had been reported since the initial suspension. The representative from Police Scotland concluded that they had no further representation to make at this time.
The Lead Solicitor advised that the licence holder’s solicitor had sent in written
representations which he had asked the Panel to consider. Panel Members were then given the opportunity to review those written representations.
The licence holder then responded to questions from the Panel and added that he regretted the incident and assured the Panel that this would not happen again and that he would walk away from any similar incident in future.
The Panel asked questions of officers on the options open to them (section 2.1 – 2.4 of the report). Officers provided the Panel with additional information as to those options and their effect on the licence.
After representations had been made, and before the Panel voted on the options, in response to a question from the Chair, the licence holder confirmed that he had received a fair hearing.
Amendment
“That the Panel agrees to allow the renewal of the licence holder’s taxi driver’s licence and then revoke the license with immediate effect”.
Proposed by Councillor Douglas Dodds, seconded by Councillor Maureen Bennison
Motion
“That the Panel agrees to allow the renewal of the licence holder’s taxi driver’s licence and suspend for the remaining unexpired portion of the licence, this being until 31 July 2018”.
Proposed by Councillor Jeremy McDonald, seconded by Councillor Chris Kane.
On the roll being called, the Members present voted as follows:-
For the Amendment (2) Councillor Maureen Bennison
Councillor Douglas Dodds
Against the Amendment (3) Councillor Chris Kane
Councillor Graham Lambie
Councillor Jeremy McDonald
The Amendment fell by 3 votes to 2.
For the Motion (2) Councillor Jeremy McDonald
Councillor Chris Kane
Against the Motion (3) Councillor Maureen Bennison
Councillor Douglas Dodds
Councillor Graham Lambie
The Motion fell by 3 votes to 2.
At this point it was noted that the Panel had not reached a decision. Councillor Lambie noted that he agreed with the last paragraph of the licence holder’s letter of support from his solicitor, and Councillor Lambie was not keen to suspend the licence holder’s licence for one year.
The Chair adjourned the meeting at 1.15pm to enable the Panel to further discuss the options open to them.
The meeting reconvened at 1.25pm with the same Members present.
Motion
“That the Panel agrees to allow the renewal of the licence holder’s taxi driver’s licence and suspend with immediate effect for the remaining unexpired portion of the licence, this being until 31 July 2018”.
For the Motion (3) Councillor Chris Kane
Councillor Graham Lambie
Councillor Jeremy McDonald
Against the Motion (2) Councillor Maureen Bennison
Councillor Douglas Dodds
Decision
The Motion was carried by 3 votes to 2 and accordingly the Panel agreed:-
to allow the renewal of the licence holder’s taxi driver’s licence and suspend with immediate effect for the remaining unexpired portion of the licence, this being until 31 July 2018. That decision was taken under Paragraph 11, Schedule 1 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. The Panel took this decision because Police Scotland had raised concerns following an incident the licence holder had been involved in on 5 July 2017, which were a material consideration for the Panel. The Panel watched the CCTV footage of the incident on 5 July 2017. In particular, the Panel felt that the incident demonstrated that the licence holder might be unable to
conduct himself in a suitable manner in situations a taxi driver might find themselves in, and as a consequence was not a fit and proper person to hold a taxi driver’s licence.
(Reference: Report by Chief Governance Officer, dated 12 February 2018, submitted).
The Chair declared the Meeting closed at 1.30 pm