[2025] UKUT 207 (AAC)

By section 13(5) of the 1995 Act, a Traffic Commissioner must refuse an application for a standard operator’s licence if the Commissioner determines that any of the requirements of sections 13A of the Act are not satisfied.

Under section 13A(2)(c) the Traffic Commissioner must be satisfied that the appellant has appropriate financial standing as determined in accordance with paragraph 6A of Schedule 3.

Under paragraph 6A of Schedule 3 an operator has financial standing under section 13A(2)(c) if the operator is able to demonstrate that it has at its disposal at all times capital and reserves in an amount determined by the type and number of vehicles that would be authorised under the licence.

The task of the Upper Tribunal when considering an appeal from a decision of a traffic commissioner is to review the material before that traffic commissioner, and the Upper Tribunal will only allow an appeal if the appellant has shown that “the process of reasoning and the application of the relevant law require the tribunal to take a different view”, as explained in Bradley Fold Travel Limited and Peter Wright v. Secretary of State for Transport [2010] EWCA Civ 695 at paragraphs 30-40. This is sometimes summarised as requiring the Upper Tribunal to conclude that the traffic commissioner was plainly wrong.