Judge overturns TC's
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revocation decision
Upper tribunal judge Jacqueline Beech believed the TC had 'already made her mind up prior to the hearing' By Roger Brown
PORTSMOUTH-BASED Southern Drives has successfully overturned the decision of western traffic commissioner (TC) Sarah Bell to revoke its 0-licence. Upper tribunal judge Jacqueline Beech said the TC's decision in March to take away the firm's restricted licence must be replaced by another order and undertakings, including: • a 28-day 0-licence suspension; • two external audits of the firm's maintenance systems by the Freight Transport Association (FTA); • director Christopher Clark and his eldest son must attend an 0-licence awareness course by December;
• preventive maintenance inspections (PMI) and preparation for annual tests must be undertaken by a main dealer.
The firm, authorised to run four vehicles, undertakes road re-instatement work for local authorities, as well as domestic and commercial groundwork.
Vosa conducted a maintenance inspection into the business in August 2012, and discovered that PAR intervals has been exceeded on two vehicles. A driver defect system was in use, but drivers tended to report defects to Clark verbally.
The investigation also found that the forward planner only projected to the end of 2012. The MoT failure rate was 40% over the previous two years. In response to the findings, Clark
wrote to the TC, saying that a new forward planning wall chart had been put into use to ensure that PMI intervals would not be exceeded. He added that roller brake testing was now undertaken on each inspection and all driver defect sheets were signed off.
At the PI, Clark also offered undertakings that all vehicles would be prepared for annual test by a large maintenance contractor, that he would attend an 0-licence awareness course and that he would arrange an external audit by the FTA every three months. However, revoking the licence, TC Bell concluded that Clark had acted for commercial gain, and that it was unlikely the business would be compliant in the future.
On appeal, Paul Carless senior, representing the company, said the revocation order was disproportionate as this was the firm's first public inquiry (PI) and there had been no convictions or prohibitions in 15 years of operating.
Judge Beech agreed and said: "The clear impression given by the conduct of the TC during the course of the PI was that she had already made her mind up prior to the hearing."
Summing up
The judge added that failure to comply with the order and undertakings could result in a second PI.