Ocean King Ltd

A decision to revoke an operator’s licence may involve an error of law where the decision-maker fails to take account of relevant evidence, even though the evidence was not drawn to the decision-maker’s attention at the time. On appeal, the Upper Tribunal may set aside the revocation without remitting the matter where no further order is necessary. Setting aside the decision does not prevent the Traffic Commissioner from recommencing regulatory action.

A Deputy Traffic Commissioner revoked the appellant’s goods vehicle operator’s licence on 2 May 2024 after receiving no response to a proposal to revoke the licence. The appellant later established that the recorded-delivery letter had not been delivered and that an out-of-office message indicated that the relevant director was abroad.

The Deputy Traffic Commissioner stayed the revocation and stated that, had this information been available, he would have allowed additional time to reply. An earlier Upper Tribunal appeal dismissal was subsequently set aside under rule 43 of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 after an administrative error. The issue for the differently constituted panel was whether the revocation decision involved an error of law and what order should follow.

1. Appeal allowed. The Deputy Traffic Commissioner’s decision to revoke the operator’s licence involved an error of law, although the error was not attributable to any fault by the Commissioner.
2. The Commissioner had failed to take into account relevant evidence concerning non-delivery of the proposal-to-revoke letter and the director’s absence. The fact that the evidence had not been drawn to the Commissioner’s attention when the revocation decision was made did not prevent the failure to take it into account from constituting an error of law.
3. The revocation decision was set aside. The Upper Tribunal considered that no further order was required. In particular, the matter was not remitted for redetermination.
4. The decision did not restrict the Traffic Commissioner’s power to recommence regulatory action against the operator if the Commissioner considered that appropriate.

• Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber): An earlier dismissal of the appeal was set aside under rule 43 of the Tribunal Procedure (Upper Tribunal) Rules 2008 because of a procedural irregularity and the interests of justice. On reconsideration, the appeal was allowed and the revocation decision was set aside.
• Deputy Traffic Commissioner: On 2 May 2024, the operator’s licence was revoked. The Commissioner later stayed the revocation pending the appeal and invited remittal.