Agenda and minutes
Venue: By Microsoft Teams
Contact: Fiona McCallum, Committee Services Officer Tel. No. 01546 604392
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: An apology for absence was received from Councillor Audrey Forrest. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Minutes: Councillor Paul Donald Kennedy advised that he held a Taxi Driver’s Licence and operated in the Helensburgh and Lomond area. He stated that as this application was for the Bute and Cowal area he felt this would not prevent him from taking part in this hearing. |
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CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982: APPLICATION FOR GRANT OF A TAXI DRIVER LICENCE (K OLIPHANT-SMITH, DUNOON) Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support Minutes: 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 video call and joined the meeting by Microsoft
Teams. Police Scotland opted to proceed
by way of audio call and Sergeant David Holmes 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 Oliphant-Smith referred to the
2008 conviction which had not been declared on his application form and advised
that he had not been aware that he had to declare it as he thought it was spent. He said that before submitting his
application to the Council he had attended Dunoon
Police Station and took all his files with him.
This included his Disclosure Certificate which detailed his convictions. He advised that a Police Sergeant had
informed him that he did not think it would be necessary to add this conviction
to the application form but in the interests of transparency suggested that he
should add a code. He said that he did
not know the code and that the Police Sergeant had obtained this for him and
added it to the form. He advised that he
had been surprised that an objection from Police Scotland had been received. He said that he now had a clean driving
licence with no points and that he had no disqualifications. He said that he
had received no other convictions, cautions or reprimands over the last 9
years. He advised that he held a Taxi
Driver Licence for the Isle of Man and presented a copy of this for the
Committee to view. He advised that he’d
had no problems, cautions or reprimands while holding this licence. He said
that it was his intention to move to Dunoon to be
close to family and to contribute to Dunoon and
Argyll and Bute. He referred to Argyll
and Bute Council actively seeking people to come and live and invest in the
local area and that he was trying to do that.
He advised that he had previously worked in government in 5 separate
departments. He referred to working in
local hospitals during Covid on the Isle of Man on
various wards, looking after vulnerable patients. He said he was also undertaking a Law Degree
through the Open University which would take 5 or 6 years to complete and that
this was very much his future idea. He
also advised of previously being elected as a local authority Councillor on the
Isle of Man in 2016 in which he was a member of several Committees. POLICE SCOTLAND Sergeant Holmes advised that the
submission by Police Scotland was not an objection. He said it was a representation to allow the
Committee to make an informed decision in respect of this application. He referred to the letter from
the Divisional Commander dated 18 October 2022 which advised that the Applicant
had 2 convictions dated 16 December 2008 and 8 April 2014. Both of these convictions related to being in
charge of a motor vehicle whilst over the prescribed alcohol limit. MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS Councillor Brown referred to Mr
Oliphant-Smith’s conviction in 2014 which resulted in him being banned from
driving for 6 years. She sought and
received confirmation from Mr Oliphant-Smith that this ban was lifted in 2020
and that he had only been driving regularly for the past 2 years and that this
would be 3 years in April 2023. Councillor Kain
sought and received confirmation from Mr Oliphant-Smith that he received his
Taxi Driver Licence for the Isle of Man last year. Councillor Kennedy asked Mr
Oliphant-Smith why he had not declared his 2008 conviction on his application
form. Mr Oliphant-Smith said that he had
been confused between English and Scottish legislation regarding spent
convictions. Councillor Kennedy pointed out
that Mr Oliphant-Smith had been charged twice for being in charge of a vehicle
but not for driving. He commented that
these sentences appeared quite severe for these charges. He asked Mr Oliphant-Smith to explain why he
was banned from driving for so long. Mr
Oliphant-Smith advised that Isle of Man laws were a lot stricter and came down
harshly on any crimes. He said that in
respect of the 2008 conviction, he advised that even though it stated ‘in
charge of a motor vehicle whilst over the prescribed alcohol limit’, he was
driving. He said that he had been just
over the limit as he had not eaten all day.
He advised that the Sergeant who breathalysed him had said that if he
had eaten a sandwich during the day he would have been under the limit. Mr Oliphant-Smith confirmed that in respect
of the 2014 conviction he was not driving and that he was in the back seat of
the vehicle. The Police Officers who
charged him made the decision that this was a crime and the Courts followed the
process that for 2 alcohol related offences within a 5 year period they had to
issue the toughest sentence they could give. Councillor Kennedy queried the
difference between Scottish and English alcohol limits and asked which limits
the Isle of Man used. Mr Oliphant-Smith
said he believed that the Isle of Man had its own limits. He said that based on the limit of 35
micrograms of breath, the reading for his first conviction was 36.4 micrograms. Councillor Kennedy referred to
the cost of car insurance for taxi driving and suggested Mr Oliphant-Smith’s might
be quite high as a result of these convictions.
Mr Oliphant-Smith said that his driving licence was clear with no
penalty points and that car insurers did not consider convictions that were
more than 5 years ago. Councillor Hume asked Mr Oliphant-Smith what his breathalyser reading was ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |