Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Audrey Forrest, Amanda Hampsey, Willie Hume, Mark Irvine and Paul Kennedy.

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 respectively of Part 1 of Schedule 7A to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support

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 Holmes joined the meeting by telephone.

The Licence Holder opted to proceed by way of a written submission and a copy of this was circulated to the Committee in advance of the hearing.

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 Chief Constable dated 22 February 2023 which requested the immediate suspension of the licence and outlined the reasons for this.

LICENCE HOLDER

In the absence of the Licence Holder, the Committee Manager read out an email from Mr Simpson dated 22 March 2023.

MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS

The Members were given the opportunity to ask questions.

SUMMING UP

Police Scotland

Sergeant Holmes advised that he had nothing further to add and confirmed that he had received a fair hearing.

DEBATE

The Members of the Committee debated the request to suspend the Taxi Driver Licence.

DECISION

The Committee unanimously agreed to suspend Mr Simpson’s Taxi Driver Licence (Number 6556) with immediate effect for the unexpired portion of the Licence as they considered that Mr Simpson was no longer a fit and proper person to be the holder of the Licence.

(Reference: Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support and written submission from Licence Holder dated 22 March 2022, submitted)

Paragraph 14  Any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime.