20260422_PPSL Civic Hearing 2.30 pm
Argyll and Bute Council · 20 May 2026
Back to Planning, Protective Services and Licensing Committee — 20 May 2026 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, 22 APRIL 2026 Present: Councillor Gordon Blair (Chair) Councillor John Armour Councillor Kieron Green Councillor Amanda Hampsey Councillor Graham Hardie Councillor Reeni Kennedy-Boyle Councillor Dougie Philand Attending: Stuart McLean, Committee Manager David Walker, Solicitor Alan Linden, Applicant Sergeant Ben Rusden, Police Scotland 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jan Brown, Audrey Forrest, Daniel Hampsey, Fiona Howard, Andrew Kain, Paul Kennedy and Peter Wallace. 2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest. 3. CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF A TAXI DRIVERS LICENCE (A LINDEN, GLASGOW) 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 the Applicant opted to proceed by way of audio call and Mr Linden joined the meeting by telephone. Sergeant Ben Rusden from Police Scotland also 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 the Applicant to speak in support of his application. APPLICANT Mr Linden referred to the 2 convictions he had and said that these were from 13 and 14 years ago. He advised that he’d had no other convictions since then. He commented that these were past offences and that he had been punished at Court. He said he was disqualified from driving, had to re-sit his driving test, and had incurred additional costs in respect of future car insurances. He reiterated that the offences were in the past and that he was not the same person as he was back then. He added that he was not proud of the offences and confirmed that they had occurred. QUESTIONS FROM POLICE Sergeant Rusden confirmed that he had no questions.
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POLICE SCOTLAND Sergeant Rusden referred to a letter of representation dated 2 March 2026 which advised of the details of convictions the Applicant received at Court on 20 January 2015 and 10 September 2015 in relation to Road Traffic Offences which occurred on 26 July 2013 and 15 June 2012, and he explained the circumstances of these. QUESTIONS FROM APPLICANT Mr Linden confirmed that he had no questions. MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS Councillor Kennedy-Boyle sought and received confirmation from the Council’s Solicitor that in terms of Section 2 of the application form, the offences were considered “spent” but were not “protected”. Councillor Green sought and received confirmation from the Council’s Solicitor that the Applicant should have included those offences on his application form. Councillor Green sought and received confirmation from Mr Linden that he did not know what to include on the application form at Section 2. He explained that he had completed a Freedom of Scotland search to find out about his previous convictions, but nothing had been highlighted. He said that he knew he had convictions but could not recall the dates as they were so long ago. Councillor Kennedy-Boyle referred to Section 5 of the application form and advised that she had noted that Mr Linden had indicated that he had held a driver’s licence for 25 years and 6 months. She commented that this suggested Mr Linden had missed out the years he had been disqualified, and she sought clarification from Mr Linden in this respect. Mr Linden explained that following his convictions he still held a driving licence but was disqualified from using it until he had sat and passed an extended driving test. Councillor Kennedy-Boyle sought and received confirmation from Mr Linden that he had experience of driving for extended periods of time as part of previous employment. She also asked why he was applying for a licence in Argyll and Bute and not anywhere else, having noted that he lived in Stepps. Mr Linden advised that he was originally from Dumbarton and that he would rather drive in a quieter area than in the city. He said he knew the Helensburgh area better than the areas of Glasgow. Councillor Kennedy-Boyle received confirmation from Sergeant Rusden that Police Scotland had an obligation to highlight previous convictions and any risks or concerns and that was why they had submitted a letter to the licensing authority in respect of this application. Councillor Blair referred to the incident in June 2012 which led to Mr Linden’s conviction, specifically for driving a vehicle on the M8 at 100 miles per hour and undertaking vehicles. Councillor Blair asked Mr Lindon if driving in this manner was due to any particular circumstances. Mr Lindon said it happened in the middle of the night. He advised that there were no reasons for it and that it had been stupidity on his part. He said that he had
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done nothing wrong since then and that this was one of those things he should not have done. Councillor Blair sought and received confirmation from Mr Linden that he had never been involved in any accidents. Councillor Green sought and received confirmation from Sergeant Rusden that the letter from Police Scotland was considered a representation and not an objection, which, Sergeant Rusden said would have been more specific in nature. Councillor Blair sought and received confirmation from the Council’s Solicitor that there had been no review of the current layout of the application form. Police Scotland Sergeant Rusden advised that the 2 convictions noted from 2012 and 2013 showed a pattern of behaviour of dangerous driving with the circumstances around these being presented. Applicant Mr Linden advised that both charges had been a long time ago and that he did not see them as a pattern of his behaviour now. He said that he’d had no offences since then and that he was not proud of them. When asked, both parties confirmed that they had received a fair hearing. DEBATE Councillor Green said he was confident that these offences had happened quite a number of years ago. Considering the age of the Applicant at that time and noting that he had not been in any trouble since then, he said he did not think the Committee should reject this application. Councillor Blair said he agreed with Councillor Green. He pointed out to Mr Linden that it was important to have good quality drivers in Argyll and Bute and that the Committee took the safety of its citizens seriously. He said the obligation would be on Mr Linden to continue his record of the last few years. Councillor Kennedy-Boyle said she was also minded to support the application. She advised that she appreciated the seriousness of the convictions when they occurred but believed that sufficient time had passed, with Mr Linden’s record being clean since then. She noted that Mr Linden had experience of driving professionally as part of previous occupations and she advised that she echoed Councillor Blair’s comments. She referred to the introduction of Project 20 in the area for reasons of safety and said she expected Mr Linden to take his part in the safety of the roads. DECISION The Committee agreed to grant a Taxi Drivers Licence to Mr Linden and noted that he would receive written confirmation of this within 7 days. (Reference: Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support, submitted)