The Middlesbrough Council Licensing Committee met on 22 September 2025. The committee reviewed a private hire vehicle driver's licence and voted to revoke it. They also agreed to exclude the press and public from discussions of two applications for private hire vehicle driver licences.

Review of Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence Ref: 27/25

The committee decided to revoke Private Hire Vehicle Licence Ref: 27/25. The Director of Environment and Community Services submitted a report regarding the review of the licence, outlining the circumstances that required the committee's consideration.

The driver attended the meeting with his partner, and confirmed his personal details and receipt of the report. The driver's licensing consultant was not present because the driver could not afford the associated costs.

The Principal Public Protection Officer presented the report, which noted the driver had been licensed with Middlesbrough Council since November 2018, with his current licence valid until October 2026.

The committee heard that on 13 June 2025, licensing officers were informed that the driver may have been wrongly issued with a fixed penalty notice for using a mobile phone while driving. The driver's licensing consultant said that the driver had not fully understood recent legislative changes regarding mobile phone usage whilst in control of a vehicle. At a previous meeting on 23 June 2025, the committee agreed to defer the matter for further enquiries with Cleveland Police.

The Principal Licensing Officer contacted Cleveland Police Legal Services on 24 June 2025 for clarification regarding the fixed penalty notice issued on 11 June 2024.

On 15 July 2025, the Principal Licensing Officer received correspondence including a letter and an incident report from Cleveland Police. The licensing consultant advised that the driver had accepted the fixed penalty notice in error, believing that any interaction with a mobile phone while in control of a vehicle constituted an offence. The consultant explained that the offence only applied when a phone was being handheld, but in this case the mobile device had been secured in a bracket and the driver had only tapped the screen. The licensing consultant noted that similar cases had previously been contested. As the driver had already paid the penalty, the notice could not be appealed, although judicial review by the High Court would have been possible, but was not financially viable for the driver. The police record contained limited information and did not specify that the alleged offence arose from tapping a securely bracketed device.

The committee was also informed that the driver had previously been issued with a warning on 7 January 2019, following complaints about his driving standards. On 12 June 2019, Cleveland Police disclosed that he had been arrested for causing serious injury by dangerous driving. As a result, the Licensing Manager suspended his licence on public safety grounds, and the driver did not appeal. On 30 September 2019, the Licensing Committee reviewed the matter and agreed to lift the suspension on the condition that the driver complete a council-approved Driver Improvement Scheme¹ at his own expense, which he completed satisfactorily.

Regarding the current offence, the driver contacted the Licensing Team on 22 June 2024, providing a letter from Cleveland Police confirming a conditional offer of a £200 fine and six penalty points, which the driver paid promptly. Due to administrative issues, no further action was initially taken by the Licensing Team until May 2025, when Stockton Borough Council raised an enquiry, as the driver had applied to that local authority for a Private Hire Vehicle Licence. The driver attended an interview with Licensing Enforcement Officers on 29 May 2025, during which he described the incident. He explained that the mobile phone was securely held in a bracket, and he had pressed the accept button for a passenger job when alerted, rather than holding the device. The police officer present at the time advised the driver that touching a mobile phone while in control of a vehicle constituted the same offence as handheld use. The driver's application for a Private Hire Vehicle Licence had been refused by Stockton Borough Council on 29 July 2025.

The driver was invited to address the committee in support of his case and responded to questions from members, with his partner also speaking in support.

The committee revoked the driver's private hire vehicle licence, Ref No: 27/25, on the grounds of any other reasonable cause, citing Section 61 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976² and the Middlesbrough Council Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Policy 2022.

The committee determined that the driver was not a fit and proper person to hold a private hire driver's licence in Middlesbrough, referencing the council's policy that licensed drivers should be safe drivers with good driving records. The committee considered the driver's previous warning and requirement to attend a Driver Improvement Scheme, as well as the conviction for using a mobile phone while driving. The committee stated that the driver had failed to challenge the fixed penalty notice at the time it was issued, and they could not go behind the conviction.

The committee noted that according to the council's policy, a serious view will be taken regarding convictions for driving whilst using a mobile phone or hand-held device, and a driver's licence would not be granted until at least five years had elapsed since the conviction or completion of any sentence or driving ban imposed, whichever was the later.

The driver has the right to appeal the decision to a Magistrates Court within 21 days.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The committee agreed to exclude the press and public from the meeting for the following items. This was because their presence would result in the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972³, and that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information. The items to be discussed were:

• Application for a Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence Ref: 29/25
• Application for a Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence Ref: 30/25

Other Matters

• The minutes of the Licensing Committee meetings held on 14 July 2025 and 21 July 2025 were approved as a correct record.
• The Licensing Manager reported that there had been no appeals and no revocations since the last meeting.