The use of untaxed vehicles has led to the licence held by Dealtop (Plymouth), trading as Target Travel, being revoked on financial grounds with effect from 27 October, giving time for the company to make a fresh licence application.
The firm, with a 40-vehicle international licence, had been called before Traffic Commissioner (TC) Kevin Rooney following complaints from Plymouth City Council. The operator had asked for a Public Inquiry (PI) after a letter from the Traffic Area Office proposing to revoke the licence.
The TC said that the company had also come to the Traffic Area Office’s attention following the resignation of the Transport Manager (TM) and the failure properly to address that issue. This was a sizeable operation that appeared to lack any recognisable corporate governance. It was entirely unacceptable that the letter proposing to revoke the licence was not dealt with properly and swiftly by a statutory Director.
In the event, suitably qualified people had been put in place and FTA audits carried out demonstrated generally good compliance. A paper application to add Tristan Simon Kelly as nominated TM was made and received in Leeds on 23 May. Having heard from Mr Kelly, he was content to accept him as nominated TM. While the company had been without a TM for a period of time, that had now been remedied.
He was concerned at the use of untaxed vehicles. There was no excuse for that. The requirement for continuous licensing was introduced in January 2004. The matters brought to his attention by Plymouth City Council indicated a lack of effective control and that was something the new TM needed to address immediately.
The firm had failed to demonstrate it had the required financial standing even when including the finance facility previously accepted.
It was clear that the finance facility relied upon was never intended to be drawn down. The company had generated an issue with HMRC that would not and should not have arisen had the requirement for financial standing been met and those finances used for the proper administration of the business.
However, this was not a business with no money. The fleet was largely owned outright and there were alternative funding streams. However, he did not trust the Director, Robert Risk, to establish and maintain financial standing with the business as currently constructed.
He was making no order for disqualification and he was providing time for this generally compliant company to make a new application.
Such an application was more likely to succeed if the finances were shown as being genuinely available from 14 days of the current day until the application was determined.
Demonstration of a proper governance structure and attendance at the PI for the application by all statutory Directors and the nominated TM would also assist, as would a schedule of vehicles showing usage and their taxation status.
