Agenda and minutes
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Apologies for absence were intimated on behalf of Councillors Gordon Blair, Mary-Jean Devon, Audrey Forrest, George Freeman, Graham Archibald Hardie and Roderick McCuish. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Minutes: There were no declarations of interest intimated. |
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CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF PRIVATE HIRE CAR OPERATOR LICENCE (GLASGOW COACH DRIVERS LIMITED, GLASGOW) Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support Minutes: The
Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made. He then outlined the procedure that would be
followed and invited the applicant to speak in support of his application. APPLICANT Mr
McNeill spoke to the terms of his application on behalf of Glasgow Coach
Drivers and advised that in his experience a number of people request an 8
seater vehicle when making taxi bookings and that he had noted a distinct lack
of vehicles of this size available for hire within the area, hence his application. QUESTIONS FROM OBJECTORS Mr
Finlay asked Mr McNeill to explain why he currently uses a 5 seater Skoda
Estate car, when he claims the demand is for an 8 seater. Mr McNeill confirmed that he is collecting
private hire fares using the Skoda Estate car, and that his other 8 seater
vehicle is currently off the road. Mr
Finlay enquired as to the status of his other vehicles given that he has more
than one licensed vehicle. Mr McNeill
confirmed that he has a Skoda Estate and a Ford 8 seater. He confirmed that the Ford 8 seater was in
the garage and had been for a prolonged period, due to issues, which were being
addressed under the manufacturer’s warranty.
Mrs
McCandlish enquired as to who was driving the Skoda
Estate car when it is on hire. Mr
McNeill advised that it was either Mark Franks or Steven Muir, depending on who
is available. OBJECTORS Mr
Finlay spoke to the terms of his objection and advised that he was also aware
that Mr McNeill had been disqualified from driving on his bus licence for a
period of 25 years by the Traffic Commission and he believed that he had been
illegally operating as a Private Hire operator prior to obtaining his
licences. He also spoke of legal issues
Mr McNeill had encountered due to failing to change his home address and how
the use of a booking system had diverted potential customers to his own
businesses, under a variety of names, including Trident Taxis, which was
similar to another well-established business within the area, to the detriment
of individual operators within the Helensburgh and
Lomond area. Mrs
McCandlish advised that she believed Mr McNeill had
lied to the Committee at a previous meeting, by advising that he had been
granted 2 licences in 2018, one being from Argyll and Bute Council, however
this was not the case as the one from Argyll and Bute Council had not been
granted until March 2019. QUESTIONS FROM APPLICANT Mr
McNeill confirmed he had no questions. MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS Councillor
Colville enquired as to whether there were any police objections to the
application. The Council’s Solicitor, Mr
MacMillan advised that there had been no police objections. Councillor
Colville asked Mr McNeill to advise whether he had had an opportunity to read
the results of the recent LSVA survey and how he felt they impacted on his
application. Mr McNeill confirmed that
his view was the same as the conclusion of the survey in that there was no
overprovision for Private Hire licences.
The
Council’s Solicitor, Mr MacMillan confirmed the outcome of the survey in the Helensburgh and Lomond area in relation to the assessment
of taxi numbers. He advised that it had
shown that there was no unmet demand. He
also confirmed that the survey found that there was no overprovision of private
hire licences over Argyll and Bute as a whole.
Councillor
Trail enquired as to the 8 seater vehicle that currently has a licence. Mr McNeill confirmed that the vehicle had
been off the road for over 4 months. He
advised that he had had the problem sorted and had it back for a fortnight,
only for it to break down again due to an issue with the adblue
system and it was currently back with Ford to be repaired under warranty. Councillor
Moffat enquired as to whether there had been any report done, specifically in
relation to the provision of vehicles of a certain size. Mr MacMillan confirmed that there is no
policy within Argyll and Bute Council that relates to the size of the vehicle,
but that there was one in relation to wheelchair adaptability. Councillor
Douglas asked Mr McNeill whether the application was simply to cover for other
vehicle breakdowns. Mr McNeill confirmed
that he had three vehicles and he wished to operate three vehicles. Councillor
Douglas sought clarity from the Council’s Solicitor in relation to the
complaints raised by the objectors as she felt that some were out of the remit
of the committee. Mr MacMillan confirmed
that it was open to the objectors to raise concerns that could ultimately prove
that the applicant is not a fit and proper person to be the holder of a
licence. Councillor
Douglas then asked the objectors to clarify the reason for raising a complaint
on the operation of a business. Mr
Finlay explained that if a person uses another business name, such as Trident
Taxis on a website, then if a potential
customer selects this on the belief that
a Trident Taxi will turn up, however this would
be diverted to one of Mr McNeill’s other businesses, away from
individual operators and this pretence would
suggest that he is not a fit and proper person. He also suggested that the 25 year
disqualification from the Traffic Commission further proved that he is not a
fit and proper person. He highlighted that
the exact reason for the disqualification was unknown. Councillor
Douglas sought clarification on the disqualification from the Council’s
Solicitor. Mr MacMillan advised that
having consulted Police Scotland in relation to the application, there were no
concerns raised with Mr McNeill’s licence. Councillor Trail expressed concern that Mr McNeill was deliberately subverting the business of both Trident Taxis and Neptune Cars. Mr McNeill advised that the phone number of Trident Taxis is registered and operated by a booking system. He advised that depending on how a taxi is booked, the driver will get ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |