Revocation and disqualification orders upheld as Upper Tribunal dismisses appeals, saying TM ‘did not take his responsibilities seriously’
The revocations of the two-vehicle O-Licence held by Poole-based Dekkabus and the two-year disqualification of Director Mark Self from acting as a Transport Manager (TM), by Traffic Commissioner (TC) Kevin Rooney has been upheld by the Upper Tribunal on appeal.
The TC revoked the company’s O-Licence for a lack of a stable establishment, a lack of professional competence and a failure to use the nominated operating centre.
Dismissing the appeals, the Tribunal said that this was a bad case of longstanding failure to satisfy the requirements for an effective and stable establishment. Indeed, there was no evidence before the TC, apart from bare assertions made by the directors, that the company had ever used the premises of PLC Commercials as its operating centre.
Even on the evidence of the company, PLC Commercials had not been used as either an operating centre or as its nominated maintenance contractor since February 2017. Upon the basis of that concession alone, the company had not been using its nominated operating centre for two years by the time it was called to a Public Inquiry (PI).
The response to complaints made about Mr Self parking a double-decker bus in a residential area was to nominate a public coach park as an additional operating centre.
The TC’s determination that a public coach park could not satisfy the regulations in the absence of evidence to show reserved bays or a restricted access area was plainly right. It was naïve of the Directors to consider that public coach parks would be suitable.
While it was contended that the company was in fact using the premises at Bourne Recovery as its operating centre, there was no evidence of that either by way of a letter from Bourne Recovery confirming the position, a parking agreement, or invoices for rent owed.
All that the TC had before him was inappropriate parking in a residential area, the use of public coach parks and a catalogue of either incorrect or misleading or empty statements of intent which were not followed through. They were satisfied that revocation of the licence was justified on the issue of stable establishment alone.
As for Mr Self, either he was careless as to the statements that he made or he made statements intending that they misled those who were responsible for ensuring compliance.
When giving evidence in the PI, he at first denied that he had been in the habit of parking public passenger vehicles outside his house overnight which was in sharp contrast to his letter of 7 July 2018 in which he accepted that vehicles were so parked “one or two separate evenings a week”. While he eventually accepted the position, the fact that he felt able to initially deny the fact spoke volumes.
It was he, as TM and Director, who was responsible for ensuring that the company had an operating centre which was available for its use and that it was used. The fact that he thought nothing of parking in a residential street demonstrated that he did not take his responsibilities seriously.
