SCA Haulage Ltd v Head of the Transport Regulation Unit
[2023] UKUT 159 (AAC)
Eric Stevenson Morrison
31 July 2024
[2024] UKUT 225 (AAC)
Upper Tribunal
A truck driver's license was revoked because he didn't have enough money and wasn't following safety rules. A court agreed with the decision to revoke the license because the driver wasn't managing his business properly and had some links to illegal activities.
Key Facts
- •Mr. Eric Stevenson Morrison's operator's license was revoked by the Traffic Commissioner for Scotland.
- •Revocation was based on insufficient financial standing and the transport manager's loss of good repute and professional competence.
- •The revocation stemmed from concerns arising during a Public Inquiry (PI) into a related license application.
- •The PI revealed potential links to organized crime and improper waste disposal at Morrison's operating centre.
- •Morrison's maintenance and inspection records were found to be deficient and outdated.
- •Morrison's appeal to the Upper Tribunal was dismissed.
Legal Principles
The Upper Tribunal's role is to review the material before the Traffic Commissioner and intervene only if the Commissioner's reasoning or application of law is demonstrably flawed.
Bradley Fold Travel Limited and Peter Wright v. Secretary of State for Transport [2010] EWCA Civ 695
An appellate court should only overturn a lower court's decision if it is 'plainly wrong'.
Clarke v Edinburgh & District Tramways Co Ltd [1919] UKHL 303
The decision of the Traffic Commissioner is presumed correct unless the contrary is shown by objective grounds.
Subesh & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] EWCA Civ 56
A 'snapshot' in time demonstrating financial standing is insufficient; consecutive bank statements are required.
LWB Limited [2011] UKUT 358 (AAC)
The roles of operator and transport manager, especially when the same person holds both, are rarely legally separable.
Alistair Walter [2017] UKUT 0438 (AAC)
A Traffic Commissioner must consider proportionality when determining whether a transport manager has lost good repute.
Schedule 3, paragraph 16 of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995
A license shall be revoked if the operator no longer satisfies financial standing requirements (s.27(1)(a) of the Act).
Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995, s.27(1)(a)
A license shall be revoked if the transport manager no longer satisfies the requirements in paragraph 14A of Schedule 3 (s.27(1)(b) of the Act).
Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995, s.27(1)(b)
Outcomes
Appeal dismissed.
The Upper Tribunal found the Traffic Commissioner's decision to revoke the license was not 'plainly wrong'. The Commissioner's findings regarding insufficient financial standing and loss of good repute/professional competence were supported by evidence and the relevant legislation.