The Taxi & General Licensing Sub-Committee of West Northamptonshire Council was scheduled to consider applications for taxi and private hire driver's licences. The meeting agenda also included provisions for the exclusion of the press and public for certain items.

Applications for Driver's Licences

The sub-committee was scheduled to review three applications related to driver's licences.

Renewal of Combined Private Hire Vehicle and Hackney Carriage Driver's Licence

One item on the agenda was an application for the renewal of a combined Private Hire Vehicle and Hackney Carriage Driver's Licence. The report pack provided for this item covered pages 5 to 22.

New Private Hire Driver's Licence Applications

Two separate applications for the grant of new Private Hire Driver's Licences were also scheduled for discussion. The first of these applications was detailed in the report pack from pages 23 to 34, and the second from pages 35 to 94.

Exclusion of Press and Public

The agenda indicated that there would be a discussion regarding the exclusion of the press and public from certain parts of the meeting. This was due to the potential disclosure of exempt information, as defined by Paragraph 1 of Part 1, Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, which relates to information concerning individuals. The recommended resolution for such exclusions was:

That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that, if the public and press were present, it would be likely that exempt information falling under the provisions of Schedule 12A, Part I, Paragraph(s) 1 would be disclosed to them, and that in all the circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

This approach is in line with the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972¹, which allows for the exclusion of the public and press when sensitive information is to be discussed.