The General Licensing and Registration Sub-Committee (2) of County Durham Council met on Tuesday 2 June 2026 to consider several applications related to private hire and hackney carriage vehicle licences. The meeting was scheduled to discuss an application for a private hire driver's licence and three separate requests to deviate from policy concerning vehicle licences.

Consideration of an Application to be Licensed as a Private Hire Driver

The sub-committee was scheduled to consider an application for an individual to be licensed as a private hire driver. This item was listed as confidential and exempt from public and press attendance, as permitted by paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 5 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972¹. The report pack provided for this item spanned pages 3 to 34.

Requests to Deviate from Policy for Vehicle Licences

Three separate agenda items concerned requests to deviate from the council's established policy in relation to licence applications for vehicles.

• Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence: The sub-committee was scheduled to review a request to deviate from policy regarding an application for a hackney carriage vehicle licence. This discussion was also designated as confidential and exempt from public attendance, as outlined in the Local Government Act 1972. The relevant report pack for this item was between pages 35 and 108.

• Private Hire Vehicle Licence (Application 1): A further confidential item involved a request to deviate from policy for a private hire vehicle licence application. The report pack for this consideration was extensive, covering pages 109 to 230.

• Private Hire Vehicle Licence (Application 2): The final item of this nature was also a confidential consideration of a request to deviate from policy for a private hire vehicle licence application. This report pack was the most substantial, spanning pages 231 to 328.

The meeting was chaired by Councillor J Kinvig, with Councillors C Blatchford, A Hopgood, G Hutchinson, and J McGlenen also in attendance. Councillor Gary Hutchinson holds the role of Mayor of Durham, and Councillor Amanda Hopgood is the Deputy Mayor of Durham and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group. The Director of Legal and Democratic Services, Helen Bradley, provided the reports for the meeting.