The Babergh Regulatory Sub-Committee meeting on Thursday 12 December 2024 was scheduled to include a discussion about whether to take disciplinary action against the holder of a combined Hackney Carriage / Private Hire Driver Licence.

BRSC/24/4 Discipllinary Review of a Combined Hackney Carriage / Private Hire Driver Licence

Councillors were scheduled to review the case of an unnamed licence holder who was alleged to have breached the council's licensing conditions by driving a private hire vehicle without displaying the correct signage.

The report prepared for the meeting by Babergh District Council's Licensing Team stated that:

On the 14th November 2024, Licensing were notified by Suffolk Constabulary that [] had been stopped whilst driving a Silver Ford [], index number [] at [] on [***].

The vehicle was displaying a Hackney Carriage plate on the rear of the vehicle only.

On the 15th November 2024, Licensing received a copy of the Fixed Penalty Notice that had been issued to [***] in relation to this matter.

The report went on to state that the unnamed driver's actions call into question [their] fitness and propriety to hold a licence and asked councillors to decide whether to take disciplinary action.

Councillors were given a range of options available to them under the law, including:

• Taking no action
• Issuing a formal warning to the driver
• Suspending the driver's licence for a period of time
• Revoking the driver's licence

The report explained that:

The purpose of taking such action would be to protect the public by seeking to ensure that only those considered to be “fit and proper” are licensed by the Council.

The report authors concluded that, in their opinion:

The Sub Committee may take the view that [the driver's] actions were careless and could have caused confusion for the public when trying to identify the status of the vehicle.

No details were included in the report about the identity of the driver or the details of the fixed penalty notice that had been issued to them.