A two-year ban of Transport Manager (TM) David Randle has been upheld by the Upper Tribunal on appeal.
Mr Randle appealed after Traffic Commissioner (TC) Nick Denton ruled that he had lost his repute while acting as TM for Rugeley, Staffordshire-based Consult Sol, trading as Williams Coaches and Bennetts Travel.
Consult Sol’s licence was reduced to three discs in 2016. It continued to operate more than three vehicles using Bennetts Travel’s discs. Both companies’ licences were revoked after a Public Inquiry (PI) in August 2017.
Consult Sol director Craig Shepherd was banned indefinitely and Bennetts’ director David Langston was banned for two years. Mr Randle did not attend and he was banned from acting as a TM, initially indefinitely.
When Mr Randle received a letter telling him of the TC’s decisions, he wrote to request a second PI. This was held on 4 September 2017.
At that hearing, Mr Randle said that he did not consider it to be a problem that Consult Sol was operating more vehicles than three, as Mr Shepherd had told him that the licence had been curtailed from eight to five and not to three.
He did not physically check the licence nor online as he was only there to check compliance.
Mr Shepherd was using Bennetts Travel as a ‘front’ to operate Consult Sol’s vehicles.
Mr Shepherd had put three of the Consult Sol’s vehicles into Bennetts Travel livery and then its discs. He couldn’t really see a problem with that. He was only an external TM.
Mr Shepherd did not take his advice as he was more of a taxi operator. In the eight hours he worked each week, he was only there to check compliance.
The TC upheld his decision that Mr Randle had lost his good repute, but reduced the ban to two years.
Dismissing the appeal, the Tribunal said that Mr Randle failed to demonstrate even a basic understanding of the fundamental role of the TM to have continuing and effective control of the transport operation.
Mr Randle gave the impression that as an external TM, that was not a role he was required to fulfil. His statements about how the directors conducted their transport operations, namely “how they ran their business was their affair” and that it was “none of my business” summed up Mr Randle’s approach.
Nothing could be further from the true position, said the Tribual. External TMs must discharge the same functions as those who are internal to the operation and to the same standard.
All TMs must ensure from the outset that they have sight of the O-Licence or access to the relevant information online, to ascertain the authorisation on the licence and the conditions and undertakings recorded on it.
If there had been regulatory action in the past, they must have sight of the decision letters or decisions of the relevant TC.
