To receive and if so determined, to approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 25^th January 2024.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 25^th January 2024 be noted as a true and correct record.

A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to public questions submitted in writing to Democratic Services (democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk) by 4pm on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must be within the remit of the Sub-Committee or be relevant to items appearing on the agenda and will be submitted in the order in which they were received.

There were no questions from members of the public.

Motion (Which may be amended as Members think fit):

That the public be excluded from this meeting during consideration of the remaining items on the agenda, because of the likelihood of disclosure of “exempt information” which falls within one or more descriptive category or categories of the Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12A, as amended by The Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, and specified on the agenda item or report relating to each such item respectively.

RESOLVED: That the public be excluded because of the likelihood of disclosure of “exempt information” which falls within one or more descriptive category or categories of the Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12A, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, as specified on the agenda item or report relating to such item respectively.

To receive a report from the Head of the Regulatory Services.

The Head of Regulatory Services introduced the case where the request to grant a private hire operator’s licence for an address outside the borough was made by City Care Agency Ltd also in attendance.

It was explained that once the operator’s licence was granted, City Care Agency would work with Trafford Council as an approved provider accepting bookings only from Transport/SEN officers, with the Transport Manager selecting the best driver for the route based on distance and familiarity with the parent and the child to be transported.  To achieve this, they run what is termed “dry runs” to get to know the families and the destinations so that future actual rides run smoothly.

City Care Agency Ltd provided full contact details for Council officers and or Police should they need to be contacted at any time.

RESOLVED: That the licence be granted on condition as per section 2.4 of page 8 of the agreement.

To receive a report from the Head of Regulatory Services.

The Head of Regulatory Services introduced the case where an application to grant a private hire driver’s licence had been submitted where the scheme exceeded delegation.

Mr. I presented his case apologising for his mistakes explaining that he had a sick and disabled baby as well as two more children.

It was noted that the incidents described in the report were only three months apart which meant that he had committed the same offence twice in a very short space of time and that although Mr. I was apologetic there was no real acknowledgment of the seriousness of the incidents and the consequences.

          RESOLVED: That the licence be revoked.

To receive a report from the Head of Regulatory Services.

The Head of Regulatory Services presented the case where an offence occurred during the currency of the private hire driver’s licence.

Mr. B was in attendance along with a friend and his lawyer who also acted as his interpreter and explained that he had accepted a fare from passengers whilst stationary after having completed a previous ride.  The passengers were in fact two plain clothes police officers carrying out a compliance enforcement.

As an Uber driver of many years, Mr. B should have known better to ask the passengers to book the ride via the app prior to agreeing to take the passengers to their destination as he would not have been insured, however he claimed that as it was raining he wanted to do the passengers a favour.

          RESOLVED –

(1)           That the licence be revoked pending the 21 days of the appeal period.

(2)           That Mr. B can continue to drive during this period.