Printed minutes
Argyll and Bute Council · 21 May 2025
Back to Planning, Protective Services and Licensing Committee — 21 May 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
MINUTES of MEETING of PLANNING, PROTECTIVE SERVICES AND LICENSING COMMITTEE held BY MICROSOFT TEAMS on WEDNESDAY, 21 MAY 2025 Present: Councillor Kieron Green (Chair) Councillor John Armour Councillor Gordon Blair Councillor Jan Brown Councillor Amanda Hampsey Councillor Graham Hardie Councillor Fiona Howard Councillor Liz McCabe Councillor Dougie Philand Councillor Peter Wallace Attending: Stuart McLean, Committee Manager David Walker, Solicitor Sergeant David Holmes, Police Scotland Named Partner in respect of Taxi Car Licence Number 1162 Named Partner in respect of Taxi Car Licence Number 756 Named Partner in respect of Taxi Car Licence Number 5237 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received Councillors Audrey Forrest, Daniel Hampsey, Mark Irvine, Andrew Kain 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 CAR LICENCES 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 audio call and Sergeant David Holmes joined the meeting by telephone. It was confirmed that the named Partner, in respect of the 3 Taxi Car Licences, and the subject of this suspension hearing, would not be in attendance. Three other named Partners (one for each of the Taxi Car Licences) 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.
Page 2
POLICE SCOTLAND Sergeant Holmes read out the contents of a letter from the Divisional Commander dated 16 April 2025 which requested the suspension of 3 Taxi Car Licences and outlined the reasons for this. QUESTIONS FROM LICENCE HOLDERS There were no questions from the Licence Holders. LICENCE HOLDERS The Licence Holders spoke in support of their Licences. 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 Holders questions. SUMMING UP Police Scotland Sergeant Holmes was given the opportunity to sum up. Licence Holders The Licence Holders were given the opportunity to sum up. When asked, all 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 agreed not to suspend the Taxi Car Licences and the reasons for this were provided. The Licence Holders were advised they would receive written confirmation of this within 7 days. Councillor Amanda Hampsey left the hearing before its conclusion. (Reference: Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support, submitted)