Contract A Licences there should he full right of objection
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BY NORMAN H.TILSLEY
THE recent spate of Contract A licence hearings in the Western Traffic Area has been followed by suggestions in certain quarters that this form of licensing should be reviewed or scrapped altogether. I have also heard it said that all applications for such licences should be published in "Applications and Decisions." To a certain extent, I would fall in with this suggestion—except that when I put this to one Licensing Authority recently, he said that in his area this would be absolutely impracticable. "As and Da" would be j too costly and unwieldy.
One of the main outcries against the Contract A is that in most cases the first a haulier hears about the granting of such a facility is when he reads of it in "As and Ds" after the grant. It does seem a little ludicrous when one hears of objectors doing battle with a small operator applying for a mere change of condition, or perhaps adding one vehicle, to find, during the same week and in the same area, that six to ten vehicles have been granted to haul the same type of goods under Contract A licences.
There is no opportunity for objection although there is a right of appeal. Regulation 22(2) of the Goods Vehicles (Licences and Prohibitions) Regulations, 1960, deals with the way such appeals should be lodged "against the decision of the Licensing Authority in respect of an application which is not notifiable or against any conditions or any variation of the conditions attached to a licence in respect of an application which is not notifiable." ' But to take such action, when nothing was known about the application until the grant was published in "As and Ds", can only be likened to shutting the stable door after the horse
has bolted, and it is little wonder that such appeals are rare, if not unknown.
As reported in The Commercial Motor last week, Mr. J. R. C. Samuel-Gibbon, the Western Authority is now publishing certain Contract A licence bids, giving other hauliers a right to make representations at public inquiry. He has also tightened up the clauses that he requires to see in agreements between hauliers and their prospective Contract A customers. This should go a long way
towards preventing abuse of this sectior of the Act Used properly, the Contract A hectic( provides a valuable service to industry— indeed, some of our largest and best esteemed hauliers operate under them But, as would appear to be the case ir the Western area, the system is open abuse if such licences are granted with out due regard to the rates offered.
The so-called "switch" from Contrac A to open A, or restricted B licence, very often the second and final stage o a newcomer's entry into haulage. In m7 opinion the regulations should tH amended to give properly license( hauliers the opportunity to object at tin first stage—when the Contract A licenct is applied for.