Coach Hire Surrey Ltd & Anor

Disqualification from PSV operator licensing is a regulatory and disciplinary measure, not criminal punishment. Its duration must be assessed individually by reference to public protection, fairness to legitimate operators and the significant interference with rights. Deterrence is relevant only insofar as it advances those objectives. Statutory guidance may guide traffic commissioners, but neither guidance nor general directions may impose a tariff or fetter individual decisions. There is no general requirement to align disqualification with rehabilitation periods under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Persistent evasion of regulatory oversight, fronting, dishonesty and failure to engage with compliance may justify a severe period. Appellate courts should afford special respect to expert traffic commissioners. The ten-year disqualification was upheld.

This was an appeal by Coach Hire Surrey Limited and Paul Jones from the Upper Tribunal’s decision of 13 August 2019 in T/2019/16, which had dismissed their appeal from the Traffic Commissioner’s decision of 23 January 2019. The Traffic Commissioner revoked the operator’s licence and disqualified the appellants for ten years under the Transport Act 1985. The Upper Tribunal declined to review its decision and refused permission to appeal, but this court granted permission limited to the period of disqualification.

The appellants accepted that the case was serious but argued that ten years was manifestly excessive, particularly in light of the rehabilitation period for Mr Jones’s convictions. The central issue was whether the Traffic Commissioner had erred in fixing the length of disqualification or in treating statutory guidance, deterrence and rehabilitation as relevant considerations.

McCombe LJ gave the lead judgment. Asplin LJ and Popplewell LJ agreed. The appeal was dismissed.

1. Disqualification under section 28 of the Transport Act 1985 serves the regulatory objectives of the licensing regime. It protects the public and promotes fairness to legitimate operators. It is not equivalent to a criminal sentence. Disciplinary and deterrent considerations may be relevant, but only as means of advancing those statutory objectives and not as punishment per se. The court applied the reasoning of Thomas Muir (Haulage Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions [1999] SC 86).
2. The period of disqualification is fact-sensitive. The Traffic Commissioner must assess what is necessary to balance public protection and fairness against the significant interference with the licence-holder’s rights. There is no tariff and no general rule requiring close alignment with a rehabilitation period. David King t/a Military World [2018] UKUT 0098 (AAC) was confined to its particular context, where loss of repute was mandatory following criminal convictions.
3. Under section 4C of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981, statutory guidance on sanctions is distinct from general directions. The indicative periods in paragraph 100 of Statutory Document No. 10 could not fetter Traffic Commissioners, although they could not be entirely disregarded as background. The Senior Traffic Commissioner had declined to prescribe a tariff, so the Court of Appeal would not create one or give general guidance on duration.
4. The Traffic Commissioner was entitled to regard persistent attempts to evade regulatory oversight, fronting, non-disclosure, combative conduct and the absence of reliable compliance evidence as aggravating features. Giving special respect to expert decision-makers, as recognised in Raschid v GMC [2007] EWCA 46 and Re Ribble Motor Services v Traffic Commission for the North West Traffic Area [2001] EWCA Civ 267, the court found no error justifying intervention after the Upper Tribunal’s review. The ten-year period was therefore upheld.

Obiter, McCombe LJ considered the absence of direct representation for Traffic Commissioners on appeals unsatisfactory and suggested that the role of paragraph 100 warranted further consideration.

1. Court of Appeal (Civil Division): Permission to appeal was granted only on the period of disqualification. The appeal was dismissed under [2020] EWCA Civ 1706.
2. Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber): On 13 August 2019, the Upper Tribunal dismissed the appeal from the Traffic Commissioner. On 3 October 2019 it declined to review its decision under rule 45(1) and refused permission to appeal.
3. Traffic Commissioner for the London and South East Traffic Area: On 23 January 2019, the operator’s licence was revoked and Coach Hire Surrey Limited and Paul Jones were disqualified for ten years.