Agenda item - Chair's Communications

The Chair gave the following communications:

There are a number of taxi licensing appeals processing through the Magistrates court at the moment, one of which was successfully defended in December last year (2022). The Court upheld a decision by the Council to revoke the licence of a taxi driver who regularly carried a drug dealer in his vehicle. The Judge dismissed the driver’s appeal stating that the driver had not satisfied the fit and proper test, and they found that the conclusions of the Council that they were knowingly transporting a drug dealer were overwhelming. Our taxi and private hire drivers hold a unique position of trust in our community, and the majority of drivers are absolutely brilliant and take the responsibility incredibly seriously. This case was an exception not the rule, and really highlights that we won’t hesitate to take very serious action where a taxi driver falls short of our Licensing standards. Safeguarding the public is our priority, and we’re extremely proud of our high licensing standards in Brighton and Hove. This was a really serious case, and we’re pleased that the judge has upheld our decision and dismissed the appeal.

The community safety partnership has agreed to use some of the safer streets funding to extend the Taxi Marshals. It has been agreed to suspend the service during quieter months such as January – March so that we can make sure to provide the service in summer and early autumn. We will continue to monitor issues at the rank during that period via the night Marshals team, and will consider a partnership with the Police as to whether there are potentially busy weekends during this period.

The taxi licensing team coordinated another successful multi agency operation in December with the police, the DVLA, neighbouring authorities, and Councillor Dee Simson, the details of which are set out in the taxi enforcement committee report.