The Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver Licensing Sub-Committee of Liverpool Council met on 2 October 2025 to discuss several applications for taxi and private hire licences. The committee was scheduled to consider these applications in light of information provided by the Disclosure and Barring Service¹. Here's what the agenda shows was up for discussion:

Exclusion of Press and Public

The committee was scheduled to consider whether to exclude the press and public from the meeting. According to the agenda, this was to be considered in accordance with sub-section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972², due to the likely disclosure of exempt information, as defined in section 100(1) and paragraph 1 of Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, which relates to information about individuals. The agenda stated that the committee was to consider whether:

The disclosure of information is in the public interest, if any relevant exemptions are applicable and whether, when applying the Public Interest test and exemptions, the public interest to disclose outweighs that of withholding information.

Taxicab and Private Hire Driver Licences

The Sub-Committee was scheduled to consider applications for both taxicab (hackney carriage) and private hire driver licences where convictions had been revealed by the Disclosure Barring Service. The agenda noted that the applicants had been asked to attend the meeting.

The specific applications listed on the agenda were:

• CO.8261: Consideration of an existing hackney carriage and private hire driver's licence.
• CO.8265: Consideration of an existing hackney carriage and private hire driver's licence.
• CO.8264: Application for the grant of a new driver's licence.
• CO.8263: Application for the grant of a new driver's licence.
• CO.8262: Application for the renewal of a private hire driver's licence.

Declarations of Interest

At the beginning of the meeting, Councillor Christine Banks, Chair of Licensing and Gambling Committee and General Purposes Licensing Committee, and the other members of the sub-committee were scheduled to declare any interests in the items on the agenda, as required by the council's code of conduct. This includes disclosing any pecuniary interests or other registrable interests not already declared in the Council's Register of Interests. Councillors were also asked to consider whether they were predetermined or had an actual or apparent bias on any item. The members of the sub-committee are Councillors Christine Banks, Councillor William Shortall, Deputy Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Anthony Lavelle, Councillor Doreen Knight, Councillor Billy Marrat, Councillor Tom Cardwell, Councillor Lila Bennett, Councillor Finley Nolan, Councillor Malcolm Kelly, Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Mirna Juarez, and Councillor Alan Gibbons, Leader of Liverpool Community Independents Group.