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Which is More Appropriate —an " A " or a "13"?

10th August 1962, Page 44
10th August 1962
Page 44
Page 44, 10th August 1962 — Which is More Appropriate —an " A " or a "13"?
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

B.T.C. are Blamed

THE question of whether an appli cant should have a B licence in place of the A licence he has applied for has become commonplace in licensing courts. Several times recently the Transport Tribunal have had to consider this thorny problem.

Two such cases came before the Tribunal at their last session in July. Latham's Transporters, Ltd., appealed because the North Western deputy Authority, instead of granting the three car transporters asked for on A licence, said he thought a case had been made out for the granting of one vehicle on B licence.

.Mr. J. R. C. Samuel-Gibbon, for Latham's, argued that if an applicant. being a haulier only and having no other business, told an L.A. that he wanted an A licence and he had the traffic and the witnesses, then that was a case for the granting .of an A licence. "The' mere fact that the British Transport Commissicin does not like it has nothing to do, With -the ease," he remarked. As a rider to this he intimated that the B.T.C. were

111 0 often the cause of so many people operating under B licences who should have had A licences.

"Oddly enough," Sir Hubert remarked, "the answer is that it has been found easier to get a B licence than it is to get an A licence."

Dialing with the question of whether the appropriate licence should be A or B. Sir Hubert Hull (president) said: "We have been muds troubled by the question of whether they (thee, appellants) ought to have reinforcement 'under an A or a B licence. If this were 1955 and not 1962 I might have been tempted to explore the question of what were the principal Considerations which ought to guide Licensing Authorities in deciding, on a given set of facts, whether the grant made should be that of an A or a B licence. I do not feel disposed to do so today and I don't think it is necessary."

Sir Hubert then said 'that where an applicant's business was of -it specialized kind and had been built up on a very widely conditioned B licence (as had Latham's) a grant made for the purpose of the same kind of traffic could more rightly be made as an addition to that B licence. In Latham's particular case, such a grant would have a particular advantage—if it was made as a variation of the existing licence, it would be encumbent upon the Authority to review the operations oE.. the whole fleet when the B licence came up for renewal. Not being empowered under the Act to modify an A licence application by the simple granting of a B, the Tribunal dismissed the appeal.

The next appeal before the Tribunal--Sir Hubert's last "public appearance" as president—involved the same question. The applicant was a certain Brynley Day, of Oldham. He, too, had been informed by the North Western deputy Authority that a B licence would be the more appropriate licence for the artic, he wished to operate. This time, however, Sir Hubert would not be drawn into any further argument about the kind of licence which should he granted.

Allowing the appeal, Sir Hubert said the appellant had shown that there was a reasonable prospect of being able to :supply some services on his return vehicle, and nobody had said that if he (the applicant) did not then somebody else would. "That seems to me a good case for an A licence," he concluded.

Tags

Organisations: Transport Tribunal
Locations: L.A.

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