Minutes
Argyll and Bute Council · 18 October 2023
Back to Planning, Protective Services and Licensing Committee — 18 October 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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MINUTES of MEETING of PLANNING, PROTECTIVE SERVICES AND LICENSING COMMITTEE held BY MICROSOFT TEAMS on WEDNESDAY, 20 SEPTEMBER 2023 Present: Councillor Kieron Green (Chair) Councillor John Armour Councillor Gordon Blair Councillor Jan Brown Councillor Audrey Forrest Councillor Graham Hardie Councillor Mark Irvine Councillor Andrew Kain Councillor Liz McCabe Councillor Luna Martin Councillor Dougie Philand Councillor Peter Wallace Attending: Shona Barton, Governance Manager Fiona Macdonald, Solicitor Sergeant David Holmes, Police Scotland Licence Holder 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Amanda Hampsey, Daniel Hampsey and Paul Kennedy. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest. The Committee resolved in terms of Section 50(A)(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 to exclude the press and public for the following item of business on the grounds that it was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 3 and 14 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 3. CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: REQUEST FOR SUSPENSION OF TAXI DRIVER LICENCE The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting. In line with recent legislation for Civic Government Hearings, the parties (and any representatives) were given the options for participating in the meeting today. The options available were by video call, by audio call or by written submission. For this hearing Police Scotland opted to proceed by way of video call and Sergeant David Holmes joined the meeting by MS Teams. The Licence Holder opted to proceed by way of audio call and joined the meeting by telephone. The Chair outlined the procedure that would be followed and invited Police Scotland to speak in support of the Chief Constable’s complaint. POLICE SCOTLAND Sergeant Holmes read out the contents of a letter from the Divisional Commander dated 4 August 2023 which requested the immediate suspension of the licence and outlined the reasons for this.
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QUESTIONS FROM LICENCE HOLDER The Licence Holder was given the opportunity of asking Police Scotland questions. LICENCE HOLDER The Licence Holder spoke in support of his Licence. QUESTIONS FROM POLICE SCOTLAND There were no questions from Police Scotland. MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS The Members were given the opportunity to ask Police Scotland and the Licence Holder questions. SUMMING UP Police Scotland Police Scotland were given the opportunity to sum up. Licence Holder The Licence Holder was given the opportunity to sum up. When asked, both parties confirmed that they had received a fair hearing. DEBATE The Members debated the request for suspension of the Taxi Driver Licence. DECISION The Committee unanimously agreed to suspend the Taxi Driver Licence with immediate effect until 21 February 2024 when it would be considered again by the PPSL Committee, and it was noted that the Licence Holder would receive written confirmation of this decision within 7 days. (Reference: Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support, submitted)