DMD Cardiff Limited

An appellate tribunal may interfere with a Traffic Commissioner’s decision only where the appellant establishes that it was wrong. It is insufficient that another factual view was reasonably available.

Under the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981, a standard public service vehicle operator must remain professionally competent, including by designating a professionally competent transport manager. Where the Commissioner is no longer satisfied that those requirements are met, revocation is mandatory. A period of grace does not remove that consequence if the required information is not supplied before it expires, and it cannot exceed the statutory maximum.

DMD Cardiff Limited appealed against the Traffic Commissioner’s decision of 13 June 2024 to revoke its standard public service vehicle operator’s licence under section 17(1) of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981.

The company’s transport manager resigned. The Commissioner granted a period of grace until 1 June 2024 for the company to appoint a suitable replacement. Although the company proposed an external transport manager, it did not provide the specified material needed to assess that appointment before the deadline and did not seek an extension.

The central issue was whether the revocation decision was wrong on the appellate standard stated in Bradley Fold Travel Limited v Secretary of State for Transport [2010] EWCA Civ 695.

1. Appeal dismissed unanimously. The Tribunal held that it could interfere with the Traffic Commissioner’s decision only if it was shown to be wrong. The appellate test, as explained in Bradley Fold Travel Limited v Secretary of State for Transport [2010] EWCA Civ 695 and Subesh v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] EWCA Civ 56, requires objective grounds for concluding that a different view is right, rather than merely preferable.

2. The company had not supplied, within the period of grace, the information required to assess whether its proposed replacement transport manager met the statutory criteria. The Commissioner was therefore entitled to conclude that the company no longer had a professionally competent transport manager and was not itself professionally competent for the purposes of the licensing requirements.

3. Once that conclusion was reached, section 17(1) of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 required revocation. The company had neither sought a further extension nor supplied the missing material before revocation. In any event, the maximum six-month period of grace had subsequently elapsed. The failure to provide the information in time was sufficient to determine the appeal.

4. The Tribunal rejected the contention that the result was unfair. The Commissioner had clearly warned that revocation would follow if the material was not supplied by 1 June 2024. A properly effected revocation could not be undone under the statutory scheme.

5. The dismissal takes effect at 4pm on 7 January 2025. The Tribunal could not otherwise grant a stay. The delayed effect preserved any stay or other lawful permission already granted by the Commissioner until that date, without creating one if none existed.

• Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber): Appeal dismissed unanimously: [2024] UKUT 419 (AAC).
• Traffic Commissioner for the Wales Traffic Area: On 13 June 2024, revoked the company’s standard public service vehicle operator’s licence under section 17(1) of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981.