To decide whether to licence a vehicle outside the standard vehicle licence conditions.

The Licensing Manager presented her report and advised Members that the current version of the standard licence conditions, approved at Regulatory Committee on the 31 March 2010, stated that ‘All applications received after the date of expiry will be treated as grants and not renewals and the appropriate conditions and fees will apply’. She added that the Licensing Authority had previously licensed a Ford Fusion saloon with registration number HN07 LHY on Plate No.H028, which was first registered in June 2007 and had expired on 14 December 2012. She confirmed that the licence holder was Mr Albert Thomas.

She went on to note that on 15 October 2012 a renewal reminder letter and application form were sent to Mr Thomas and a final renewal reminder was made by way of telephone call on 11 December 2012 to Mr Thomas who stated he had left the county and had sold the plate at the end of May 2012 to someone from a chauffeur company but could not provide a name or contact number for them. The plate & licence was then allowed to expire on 14 December 2012.

She then stated that on 17 December 2012 Mr Stuart Prewer contacted taxi licensing stating that he had purchased plate H028 and wished to submit ‘change of vehicle on plate’ and ‘change of proprietor’ applications. He was advised that the plate had expired on 14 December 2012 and that if he made the application, as the licence had expired, it would be outside of the standard conditions. Copies of the application forms were sent to him and he was advised to make an application as soon as possible as the next available Committee hearing date was 29 January 2013. He was also provided an ‘authorisation to test letter’ for a replacement vehicle. On 28 January 2013 Mr Prewer made an application for ‘change of proprietor’ and ‘renewal of licence plate H028’. He was advised that the application was too late for the hearing on 29 January 2013 and that the next committee hearing was on 26 February 2013.

In response to a question she confirmed that if the application was granted, Mr Prewer would apply to change the vehicle on plate H028, to a Mercedes E220 ST56VPW first registered on January 2007.

Mr Prewer addressed the Sub-Committee in support of his application and advised Members that he had purchased the plate but that it had not been used since its purchase. He added that he had been through a traumatic personal time in his life and that at the time the change of details was not a priority. He apologised for not contacting the Licensing Authority sooner in respect of the change of plate and assured the Sub-Committee that he had never submitted paperwork to the authority late previously. The Licensing Manager confirmed that this was an accurate statement.

In response to a question, Mr Prewer confirmed that there were two directors of the company but that he was solely responsible for the day to day running of the business.

RESOLVED

THAT based on the information received to date, the Regulatory Sub-Committee grant the licence outside the standard conditions.