Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Gordon Blair, Daniel Hampsey, Graham Hardie, Andrew Kain, Luna Martin and Dougie Philand.

There were no declarations of interest.  Councillor Paul Kennedy advised that he was a Taxi Driver but as this was for the Helensburgh and Lomond Area he would remain in the meeting and take part in the hearing.

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 the Applicant opted to proceed by way of audio call and joined the meeting by telephone.

 

Police Scotland opted to proceed by way of video call and Sergeant David Holmes joined the meeting by MS Teams.

 

The Senior Solicitor advised that an objection from Police Scotland had been received outwith the time period allowed by the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 for making objections or representations.  It was noted that it would be competent under Paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 1 of the 1982 Act for the Committee to entertain a late objection or representation if they were satisfied that there was sufficient reason for it not having been made within the time allowed.  She advised that the objection had been received on 30 August 2023 but due to an administrative error Police Scotland had not been notified of the application until 21 August 2023 the day after the 28 day period had expired.

 

The Chair invited Police Scotland to comment.

 

Sergeant Holmes confirmed that the application had been made on 24 July 2023 and that the Police would have had until 18 August 2023 to lodge any objection.  Notification of the application was only received by Police Scotland on 21 August 2023 and they endeavoured to respond to this as quickly as possible with an objection being submitted on 30 August 2023.

 

The Chair sought and received confirmation from the Applicant that he had no comment to make.

 

The Chair sought the views of Members as to whether or not this late objection should be taken into consideration.

 

The Committee agreed to accept the late objection from Police Scotland and a copy of this was circulated by email to the Committee.

 

Reference was then made to a request from Police Scotland that the Committee take account of a matter that was considered “protected” in terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.  It was noted that the Committee may take into consideration such evidence relating to protected matters where they are satisfied that justice cannot be done except by admitting such evidence.

 

The Chair outlined the procedure that would be followed in this respect and invited Police Scotland to address the relevancy of the protected matter.

 

POLICE SCOTLAND

 

Sergeant Holmes advised there was one “protected” conviction which was connected to the licence applied for.  He confirmed that it was Police Scotland’s position that justice could not be done in this case except by admitting the evidence relating to this “protected” conviction.

 

The Chair then invited the Applicant to ask Police Scotland questions and to address the relevancy of the protected matter to his application.

 

APPLICANT

 

Mr MacLean referred to all his convictions being years ago and in the past.  He advised that he was currently working full time for Argyll and Bute Council and that he had children.  He said that he was looking to do extra part time work at the weekends to help out his Uncle.  He said that all the convictions were in the past and that he had not been in trouble since.  He advised that he has been working for Argyll and Bute Council for nearly 3 years.  He said he had nothing further to add in respect of the “protected” conviction.

 

The Chair invited Police Scotland to comment on the Applicant’s submission and Sergeant Holmes advised that he had nothing further to add.

 

The Chair then invited questions from Members.

 

Councillor Irvine sought and received confirmation from Sergeant Holmes that the date of the “protected” conviction was 7 October 2020.

 

Councillor Kennedy asked Police Scotland why the conviction was “protected”.  Sergeant Holmes explained that in terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 there were certain convictions that Police Scotland could and could not disclose.  Although a fairly recent conviction, this fell under the protection status due to the nature of the offence and the outcome of the court disposal.

 

Councillor Green sought and received confirmation from Sergeant Holmes that it was considered that this conviction was connected to the licence applied for and that justice could not be served without admitting this evidence to the Committee today.

 

Councillor Kennedy advised that he agreed justice could not be done without admitting this evidence if it was considered relevant to the application.

 

Councillor Irvine referred to the date of the conviction being after the other convictions and thought that this may be something that would be relevant to this application.

 

Councillor Forrest advised that she agreed that justice could not be done without admitting this evidence and that she would like to hear the detail of it.

 

The Committee agreed to consider the protected matter as part of this application on the grounds that justice could not be done in this case without admitting this evidence and a copy of the letter from Police Scotland was circulated by email to the Committee.

 

The Chair then outlined the hearing procedure that would be followed and invited the Applicant speak in support of his application.

 

APPLICANT

 

Mr MacLean advised that he had applied for a Taxi Driver Licence so that he could help out his Uncle and that this would be a part time job for himself.  He said that the convictions were several years ago and that he had not had any recently.  He said he was hoping for a good outcome today.  He advised that he had submitted his application in July and had hoped to be able to help out his Uncle a lot sooner.  He said that he hoped that things could be resolved today and that he could help his Uncle part time at the weekends.

 

QUESTIONS FROM POLICE SCOTLAND

 

Sergeant Holmes advised that he had no questions.

 

POLICE SCOTLAND

 

Sergeant Holmes referred to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.