Traffic Commissioner (TC) Kevin Rooney is considering ordering Euromar and its Director, Marek Orzechowski, to pay the £125 costs of a Public Inquiry they failed to attend.
The TC refused an application by the Slough-based firm for a one-vehicle international licence.
In his decision, the TC said that Mr Orzechowski had requested the presence of a Polish interpreter. At 1019hrs, his office received an email signed in the name of Lidia Malik Urbanek, EuroMar’s secretary, which advised that Mr Orzechowski had flu and was unable to attend.
Mr Orzechowski was the sole director of Polski Express Transport which, twice in 2010, sought a five-vehicle international licence. Those applications were withdrawn by the Central Licensing Unit (CLU), as the application fee failed and could not be processed.
In 2014 and 2016, Euromar sought a one-vehicle international licence. Both applications were refused on financial grounds – decisions upheld by the Upper Tribunal on appeal [routeone/Court Report/ 5 August 2015 and 19 April 2017].
Bank statements were provided for the current application showing the required £7,850 needed. However, it was noted that there had been three deposits into the bank account which enabled the company to meet the financial requirements on the basis of a closing balance. There was no evidence that the company had access to a vehicle, so the financial situation appeared identical to that for the two previous applications by Euromar.
The email sent at 1019hrs had attached up-to-date bank statements, unverified. They were bolstered significantly by four deposits. It was clear that the requirement for financial standing of £7,950 for one vehicle failed to be met.
The firm had failed to demonstrate how it could have access to a vehicle when it had, on the face of the evidence provided, no money. Access to a vehicle was a key limb of the requirement of stable establishment.
Mr Orzechowski lived in Slough. The call-in letter requested the applicant to attend one hour before the inquiry was due to start. To achieve that, Mr Orzechowski would be expected to be leaving home, taking in to account rush-hour traffic on the M4, at around 0700hrs.
It followed that he must have made his decision not to attend by around that time. It was therefore entirely unreasonable that he defer informing his office until 1019hrs. Had he notified by 0800hrs or even 0900hrs, the interpreter could have been stood down.
As it was, the public purse would be standing a charge of between £180 and £240 – that was on top of the time taken to prepare the Public Inquiry brief, his time, his clerk’s time and the cost of having a tribunal room empty for a morning. That behaviour was improper and unreasonable conduct in relation to the Public Inquiry.
Consequently, he was minded to make an order for costs against Euromar and/or Mr Orzechowski in the amount of £125. Euromar and Mr Orzechowski had seven days to make representations against such an order.