The notification process for change to a Transport Manager listed on an O-Licence will become entirely digital from 31 January 2025 and the TM1 paper application form will be withdrawn from that date.
As of then, all such submissions will be made via the Vehicle Operator Licensing (VOL) platform and the TM1 will no longer be accepted. The Traffic Commissioners (TCs) note that the small number of O-Licence holders requiring assistance in using digital systems will be provided with it.
Move of the Transport Manager change notification task entirely online will follow earlier transfer of other licensing-related services to VOL. Among those is the application process for a new O-Licence. Continuation of existing licences followed in September. Applications to surrender a licence will go the same way from 31 January 2025.
The most recent Senior TC’s statutory document on Transport Managers, dated 9 January, notes that staff working on a TC’s behalf in practice already expect applicants for the Transport Manager position to submit the required information through VOL.
In the TCs’ Annual Report for 2023/24 they note that the platform “is now recognised by the Central Digital and Data Office as [being] in the top 75 services across government.” Digital ‘bundling’ of hearing papers was at the trial stage as of publication of that report, although the TCs acknowledge that the ‘bundling’ system is not integrated within VOL.
Nevertheless, greater use of VOL is cited as being useful, with the TCs observing that such expansion comes with a hope that as many operators as possible can “enjoy the benefits of faster processing times, reducing the burden and providing more security.”
The TCs have previously noted that incorrectly completed paper forms are a major reason for delays to processing, with the TM1 form stating that “many” such applications are delayed because the required information is not received in a timely fashion.
