[2023] UKUT 230 (AAC)

A desk-based assessment had been carried out in September 2022. Of the 17 areas examined, 12 were considered “Unsatisfactory”: the operating centre, inspection/maintenance records, driver defect reporting, inspection facilities and maintenance arrangements, vehicle emissions, load security, wheel and tyre management, driver documents, driver training records, driver hours/record keeping, compliance with the Working Time Directive and Transport manager/responsible person assessment. To summarise, there was a lack of systems and records and of evidence more generally.

The operator did engage a consultant and a number of documents were submitted in evidence to the Public Inquiry, but the Traffic Commissioner considered that the material submitted did not fully meet the requirements of the call-in letter and was of limited help to the operator. No useful purpose would be served by reiterating all the points I -X in paragraph 6 of the Decision where the Traffic Commissioner specified her concerns; we see no reason to disagree with her assessment.

Based on the transcript of the Public Inquiry, it would be fair to say that the Traffic Commissioner was evidently not impressed by Mr Hassan’s evidence. In her written decision, she was particularly critical of Mr Hassan’s failure to respond to the Desk Based Assessment, when a response was due within 7 days, and that he had incorrectly and misleadingly indicated in the Desk Based Assessment that the operator had at that point only just started operating HGVs when in fact it had been doing so since August 2021.