'Give us all the facts' RHA
Page 26
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The Transport Tribunal must rule on the question of whether statutory objectors have the right to see all the information they want about a licence application. The Transport Tribunal has adjourned an appeal by statutory objector Road Haulage Association against a new international licence to father and son Thomas and Allan Dale, trading as Hambleton Haulage.
The partners had been granted a two-year licence for two vehicles and two trailers based at Dalton, near Thirsk, despite opposition from the RHA on grounds of repute and finance. The association had referred to the fact that Thomas Dale had run the failed Allan Dale (Haulage) (CM 21-27 April 1994), The LA refused to give the RHA access to financial information filled with the application, saying the decision not to release the information followed advice from the Department of Transport. The DOT's legal advisors believed that the additional financial information asked for by an LA was not part of a licence application, but ancillary to it.
Before the tribunal, Stephen Kirkbright, for the RHA, said statutory objectors like the RHA had been encouraged by LAs to object to applications where the question of fitness to hold a licence arose. They mid not decide whether or not an objection was justified unless they saw all the information contained in an application. As statutory objectors, the RHA had a right of access to any information provided by the applicants.
Tribunal president Judge Harold Wilson said it was an extremely important point of law. The Tribunal had to balance the need for the protection of confidential financial information with the rights of objectors.
The Tribunal felt that the point should be fully argued so it adjourned the proceedings.