CASE TWO
Page 14
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Haulier failed to tell TC about partners
JOHN WALKER and Son has received a formal warning from Joan Aitken, the trafic commissioner (TC) for Scotland, for not providing her ofice with details about all the partners involved in the business.
A public inquiry held in Edinburgh in June, was told that in January 2007 the TC issued a licence to the Annan, Dumfriesshire-based scrap metal recycling haulier, with brother and sister Alison Walker and John Walker listed as business partners.
The inquiry was called after it was discovered that John Walker had not declared several convictions to the TC’s ofice – although later medical reports showed that the offences had arisen because of an undiagnosed medical condition that is now under control.
However, it was revealed at the hearing that the pair’s mother Diane Walker is also a partner in the business, a fact that had never been declared to the TC.
It also emerged that there was a fourth partner in the business – limited liability company JJ & A Walker.
Aitken said: “This is all far from satisfactory. The true partnership has not been disclosed at time of application.
“Further, the convictions were not intimated to me as they should have been. Again that is far from satisfactory.” As well as the formal warning, the TC ordered that her ofice records be amended to show that the irm is a partnership of four.
TCs need to know
The TC must have accurate details about all the partners involved in a transport company – individuals or companies. This is vital because the TC might need to make checks regarding their repute.