1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184 
DTC criticises 'lack of control over legal representation
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
PERRE I I SAYS the one matter that caused particular concern was the lack of control demonstrated by the operators over their legal representatives.
The DTC was alarmed that letters had been written on their behalf without them checking the form or content. She listed several examples of this: • Before the hearing she received a letter from the operators' Scottish solicitors advising her wrongly that she should only have regard to the situation as at August 2003. This would have meant she could not give the operators credit for improvements they'd made since 2003.
• She later received a letter from a different firm of solicitors in Scotland informing her that further court proceedings were in process in Scotland and more legal proceedings against a traffic examiner and Vosa were being considered.
• The next letter she received was from MSP Tommy Sheridan. This contained a number of factual inaccuracies, accused her of behaving unethically and requested that transport consultant Gerald Hamilton be permitted to represent the operators at the public inquiry.
During the hearing, both operators admitted the behaviour of those who were assisting them was net in their best interests. They promised they would conduct their relations with the licensing authorities in a manner befitting reputable operators.