Judicial Review expected to deal with issue once and for all; highest level of clarification welcomed
A trustee of Glasgow-based community transport organisation (CTO) G15 Buses has reacted positively to confirmation that the Bus and Coach Association (BCA) will obtain via Judicial Review clarification on the use of Section 19 and Section 22 permits through a concrete definition of non-commercial, and a decision on driving licence requirements when being paid.
“As someone who finds himself caught in the melee of officialdom surrounding the permit debacle, I welcome the BCA’s attempts to have the issue clarified at the highest level,” says Will Thomson.
“I had very long and interesting discussions with staff from the Office of the Traffic Commissioner, who, while attempting always to keep in line with the current regulations, have been seen to ‘draw out’ decisions on Section 19 applications.
“I have also been on the receiving end of unbelievable decisions from local transport authorities, such as one which led to the demise of a community interest company in Liverpool that used permits.”
Mr Thomson says that if a decision is reached that causes most not-for-profit operators to require O-Licences, the removal of rural bus services currently provided by CTOs will go ahead.
If that happens, he adds that large operators will be uninterested in filling the void. Small companies will only take on the work for a profit and Mr Thomson questions whether they will want, or be able, to take up that slack. He also suggests that politicians have done the sector a disservice by not seeking legal clarification.
“What I would love to see later in 2019 is a situation where clarification is not necessary, because our civil servants have made our post-EU understanding of the Regulation different to that of our European neighbours. But that, I believe, is only a possibility in cloud cuckoo land.”
Martin Allen of the BCA says that Judicial Proceeding was issued to UK authorities on 13 December 2018 and permission was granted on 30 January for the hearing. The Community Transport Association and Mobility Matters have intervened as interested parties. The BCA’s case is expected to be heard by early summer. It is confident that it will be found in its favour, which could spell major change for the provision of community transport in Great Britain.
One MP claimed in 2018 that at least one CTO in his constituency has closed, and it is understood that a number of local authorities have ceased awarding competitively-tendered contracts to CTOs until the matter is concluded.
