Deborah Marie Toner T/A DDT Haulage v Head of the Transport Regulation Unit

An application to add a transport manager must be determined under the legislation in force when the decision is made. A statutory provision omitted before the decision cannot provide a lawful basis for refusal. On appeal, the Upper Tribunal reviews the material before the original decision-maker, and the appellant must show that the decision is wrong because the reasoning and application of the law require a different result.

The appellant held a standard international goods vehicle operator’s licence and applied to add an internal transport manager. The Head of the Transport Regulation Unit refused the application on 15 November 2022, relying on section 12A(3)(c) of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act (Northern Ireland) 2010 and an earlier undertaking requiring an external transport manager.

Section 12A(3)(c) had been omitted by the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Amendment Regulations 2022 with effect from 1 July 2022. The central issue was whether the omitted provision could lawfully support the refusal.

1. Appeal allowed. The decision of 15 November 2022 was set aside, and the application to add a transport manager was remitted to the Department for reconsideration.
2. The appeal to the Upper Tribunal is a review of the material before the original decision-maker. It is not a rehearing equivalent to an appeal from a magistrates’ court to the Crown Court. The appellant bears the burden of showing that the decision is wrong, namely that the reasoning process and application of the relevant law require a different view.
3. The relevant licensing requirements are continuing obligations. The grant of an operator’s licence does not allow those requirements to be disregarded during the life of the licence.
4. The Head of the TRU expressly relied on section 12A(3)(c) of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act (Northern Ireland) 2010 as the legal basis for refusal. That provision had been omitted by regulations 1(b) and 9 of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Amendment Regulations 2022, with effect from 1 July 2022.
5. Because section 12A(3)(c) was no longer in force when the decision was made on 15 November 2022, it could not lawfully support the refusal. The decision was therefore plainly wrong. The Department accepted that conclusion at the hearing.

• Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber): appeal against the decision of the Head of the Transport Regulation Unit dated 15 November 2022; appeal allowed and the decision set aside.