Plans to delegate powers for the emergency suspension of taxi driver licences to a three-strong panel have been blocked by Angus councillors.
Legal chiefs had argued for the move, saying there was a need to make urgent decisions in the case of licence holders such as cabbies if allegations of a serious criminal nature came to light.
However, a narrow vote sunk the proposal to shift responsibility to the authority’s legal chief and the top two figures on the licensing regulatory body.
Councillors said they feared for the livelihoods of taxi drivers whose cases took a long time to get to court, or who were found innocent of the charges against them.
The civic licensing committee had previously agreed to delegate authority after the council’s head of legal services highlighted powers under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act to order the immediate suspension of a licence if its continuation would cause a “serious threat to public order or public safety”.
Arbroath West and Letham Independent David Fairweather challenged the decision-making handover at a full meeting of the council.
“I know they are emergency powers, but in my 10 years on civic licensing they have never been used,” he said.
“Time and again police put forward letters asking us as a committee to remove a licence because the holder is not a fit and proper person.
“But we have had situations where we have been asked to remove a licence, the matter has never even gone to court and as a committee we have deferred it on the basis that the person is not guilty until the charge is proven.
“Where would we have been if we had taken licences away from taxi drivers who then had charges dropped against them?” he said.
“If it’s extremely serious and the police want to make a strong case for an emergency suspension I would ask that a senior officer comes to us and tells us that the licence should be taken away because they are a danger.
“This decision is the remit of the committee and I want it to remain the remit of the committee.”
Montrose SNP member Bill Duff said he was happy that authority should be delegated.
“We have a responsibility to the public to ensure that when they get into a taxi the driver is a suitable person to be doing that job,” he said.
“If there is any question we should be erring on the side of safety.”
Concern was also raised about the authority being put at risk of a compensation claim if a driver’s licence was suspended and they were subsequently cleared in court or no action was taken.
Councillors voted 13-10 not to delegate the emergency suspension powers.
