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Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Woodgreen, Witney

Contact: Democratic Services 

Items
No. Item

18.

Minutes of Previous Meeting

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 27 January 2022.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 27 January 2022 were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

19.

Apologies for Absence and Temporary Appointments

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Steve Good.

20.

Declarations of Interest

To receive any declarations from Members of the Committee on any items to be considered at the meeting.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest received.

21.

Exclusion of Public and Press

Minutes:

RESOLVED: That, in view of the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the public were excluded from the meeting for the remaining item of business.

 

22.

Review of a Dual Driver Licence

Purpose

To consider a review of a Dual Driver’s licence.

 

Recommendation

That the Sub Committee determines whether or not it deems the individual is a ‘fit and proper’ person to hold a Dual Driver’s licence in the light of the information in this report.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report from the Licencing Officer which asked them to review the licence of a Dual Driver, Mr A.

 

The report advised that the individual was first licenced as a dual driver with the Council in January 2013.  During that time, there had been no complaints from members of the public or any other bodies such as the Police.

 

On 6 December 2021, Mr A submitted an application to renew his licence.  On the application he advised that there was a pending conviction against him for assault.  A copy of the DBS certificate was attached to the report at Annex A.

 

A check was completed with the DBS Update Service, which advised that the individual’s account was no longer active.  He was advised by officers that his licence would be surrendered until this had been rectified and he would need to appear before the sub-committee in light of the conviction disclosed.

 

The Licensing Officer outlined the report and advised that Mr A had not informed the Council of the conviction in line with Council policy.  She signposted Members to the statements submitted by the driver and his wife.  Mrs Thomas also explained that Mr A’s wife would not be attending the hearing because she was on the school run but could be contacted by telephone if necessary.

 

Mr A addressed the sub-committee and advised that the date of the conviction was 2nd December 2021 although the incident had occurred in October 2021.  Following a question from the Chairman, Mr A could not give a reason as to why he had failed to inform officers of the conviction.

 

Mr A gave an explanation of the events that had resulted in the conviction, advising that it had been a verbal argument between himself and his wife, whilst his father-in-law was present.  The incident had lasted 5 to 10 minutes and his wife had threatened to call the police.  Mr A tried to calm her down but on the advice of his father-in-law, left the house for a cigarette and to go to the local shop.  Whilst there, his wife had texted to say that the police were on their way. 

 

Following further questions from the Chairman, Mr A advised that the only physical contact had been when he had held her hand to prevent her from phoning the police and when he had given her a ‘bear hug’ to try to calm her down.  He also confirmed that following the conviction, which he pleaded not guilty to, he was given a community order to attend a Building Better Relationships course, and paid £775 in costs.  He confirmed that there were no children present at the time of the incident.

 

Mr A stated that his wife regretted her actions and this led to her writing the email outlining the circumstances.  He felt that the incident was in a domestic setting and was not to do with the public.

 

Councillor Saul queried if there had been any physical injuries received  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22.