Transport Act 1968

Operators' licences

60Users of certain goods vehicles to hold operators' licences

(1)Subject to subsection (2) of this section and to the other provisions of this Part of this Act, no person shall, after the appointed day for the purposes of this section, use a goods vehicle on a road for the carriage of goods—

(a)for hire or reward ; or

(b)for or in connection with any trade or business carried on by him,

except under a licence granted under this Part of this Act (hereafter in this Part of this Act referred to as an " operator's licence ").

(2)Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply—

(a)to the use of a small goods vehicle as defined in subsection (4) of this section ; or

(b)to the use of a vehicle of any class specified in regulations.

(3)It is hereby declared that, for the purposes of this Part of this Act, the performance by a local or public authority of their functions constitutes the carrying on of a business.

(4)For the purposes of subsection (2)(a) of this section a small goods vehicle is a goods vehicle which—

(a)does not form part of a vehicle combination and has a relevant plated weight not exceeding three and a half tons or (not having a relevant plated weight) has an unladen weight not exceeding thirty hundredweight; or

(b)forms part of a vehicle combination (not being an articulated combination) which is such that—

(i)if all the vehicles comprised in the combination (or all of them except any small trailer) have relevant plated weights, the aggregate of the relevant plated weights of the vehicles comprised in the combination (exclusive of any such trailer) does not exceed three and a half tons ;

(ii)in any other case, the aggregate of the unladen weights of those vehicles (exclusive of any such trailer) does not exceed thirty hundredweight; or

(c)forms part of an articulated combination which is such that—

(i)if the trailer comprised in the combination has a relevant plated weight, the aggregate of the unladen weight of the motor vehicle comprised in the combination and the relevant plated weight of that trailer does not exceed three and a half tons;

(ii)in any other case, the aggregate of the unladen weights of the motor vehicle and the trailer comprised in the combination does not exceed thirty hundredweight.

In any provision of this subsection " relevant plated weight" means a plated weight of the description specified in relation to that provision by regulations; and in paragraph (b) of this subsection " small trailer " means a trailer having an unladen weight not exceeding one ton.

(5)A person who uses a vehicle in contravention of this section shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200.

61Authorised vehicles

(1)Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the vehicles authorised to be used under an operator's licence shall be—

(a)such motor vehicles, being vehicles belonging to the holder of the licence or in his possession under an agreement for hire-purchase, hire or loan, as are specified in the licence;

(b)trailers from time to time belonging to the holder of the licence or in his possession under an agreement for hire-purchase, hire or loan, not exceeding at any time such maximum number as is specified in the licence;

(c)unless the licence does not permit the addition of authorised vehicles under this paragraph and subject to subsection (3) of this section, motor vehicles not exceeding such maximum number as is specified in the licence, being vehicles belonging to the holder of the licence or in his possession under an agreement for hire-purchase, hire or loan, but acquired by him, or coming into his possession under such an agreement, only after the grant of the licence.

For the purposes of paragraphs (b) and (c) of this subsection different types of trailers or different types of motor vehicles, as the case may be, may be distinguished in a licence and a maximum number may be specified in the licence for trailers or vehicles of each type.

(2)An operator's licence shall not authorise the use of any vehicle unless the place which is for the time being its operating centre—

(a)is in the area of the licensing authority by whom the licence was granted ; or

(b)is outside that area and has not been the operating centre of that vehicle for a period of more than three months.

For the purposes of paragraph (b) of this subsection, two or more successive periods which are not separated from each other by an interval of at least three months shall be treated as a single period having a duration equal to the total duration of those periods.

(3)A motor vehicle which, after the grant of an operator's licence, is acquired by the holder of the licence, or comes into his possession under an agreement for hire-purchase, hire or loan, and thereupon becomes an authorised vehicle by virtue of subsection (1)(c) of this section, shall cease to be an authorised vehicle on the expiration of one month from the date on which it was acquired by him or came into his possession unless before the expiration of that period he delivers to the licensing authority a notice in such form as the authority may require to the effect that the vehicle has been acquired by him, or has come into his possession, as the case may be.

(4)Where the licensing authority by whom a licence was granted receives a notice under subsection (3) of this section to file effect that the holder of the licence has acquired, or come into possession of, a vehicle as mentioned in that subsection, he shall, if the vehicle has become an authorised vehicle by virtue of subsection (1)(c) of this section, vary the licence by directing that the vehicle be specified therein.

(5)A motor vehicle specified in an operator's licence shall not, while it remains so specified, be capable of being effectively specified in any other operator's licence.

(6)Where it comes to the knowledge of the licensing authority by whom an operator's licence was granted that a vehicle specified therein—

(a)has ceased to be used under the licence (otherwise than because of a fluctuation in business or because it is undergoing repair or maintenance); or

(b)is specified in another operator's licence,

he may vary the licence by directing that the vehicle be removed therefrom.

62Applications for operators' licences

(1)A person may apply for an operator's licence to the licensing authority for each area in which, if the licence is granted, the applicant will have an operating centre or operating centres; and a person may hold separate operators' licences in respect of different areas but shall not at any time hold more than one such licence in respect of the same area.

(2)A person applying for an operator's licence shall give to the licensing authority a statement giving such particulars as the authority may require of the motor vehicles proposed to be used under the licence which—

(a)belong to the applicant, or

(b)are in his possession under an agreement for hire purchase, hire or loan, or

(c)he intends, if the application is granted, to acquire, or to obtain possession of under such an agreement,

and also stating the number and type of any trailers proposed to be so used.

(3)A person applying for an operator's licence after the appointed day for the purposes of section 65 of this Act shall also give to the licensing authority a statement of the person or persons and of the other matters which he proposes should be specified in his licence for meeting the requirements of that section.

(4)A person applying for an operator's licence shall give to the licensing authority any further information which he may reasonably require for the discharge of his duties in relation to the application, and in particular shall, if he is required by the licensing authority so to do, give to him—

(a)such particulars as he may require with respect to the purposes for which the vehicles referred to in the statement under subsection (2) of this section are proposed to be used ;

(b)particulars of the arrangements for securing that Part VI of this Act (or, so long as those sections remain in force, sections 73 and 186 of the Act of 1960) will be complied with in the case of those vehicles, and for securing that those vehicles are not overloaded ;

(c)particulars of the facilities and arrangements for securing that those vehicles will be maintained in a fit and serviceable condition;

(d)particulars of any activities carried on, at any time before the making of the application, by—

(i)the applicant,

(ii)any company of which the applicant is or has been a director;

(iii)where the applicant is a company, any person who is a director of the company;

(iv)where the applicant proposes to operate the said vehicles in partnership with other persons, any of those other persons ;

(v)any company of which any such person as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (iii) or (iv) of this paragraph is or has been a director ;

(vi)any company of which the applicant is a subsidiary,

being activities in carrying on any trade or business in the course of which vehicles of any description are operated, or as a person employed for the purposes of any such trade or business, or as a director of a company carrying on any such trade or business ;

(e)particulars of any convictions during the five years preceding the making of the application—

(i)of the applicant; and

(ii)of any other person as to whose activities particulars may be required to be given under paragraph (d) of this subsection,

being convictions such as are mentioned in subsection (4) of section 69 of this Act (taking references in that subsection to the holder of the licence as references to the applicant or, as the case may be, to that other person);

(f)particulars of the financial resources which are or are likely to be available to the applicant;

(g)where the applicant is a company, the names of the directors and officers of the company, and of any company of which the first-mentioned company is a subsidiary, and where the authorised vehicles are proposed to be operated by the applicant in partnership with other persons, the names of those other persons.

(5)Any statement or information to be given to a licensing authority under this section shall be given in such form as the authority may require.

63Objections to grant of operators' licences

(1)Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the licensing authority shall publish in the prescribed manner notice of any application to the authority for an operator's licence.

(2)The licensing authority for any area shall not be obliged to publish notice of any application made by a person who is the holder of an operator's licence granted by the licensing authority for any other area if satisfied that the grant of the application will not result in any increase in the number of authorised vehicles under operators' licences held by the applicant which is substantial having regard to the existing number of such vehicles.

(3)Any of the following persons, that is to say—

(a)a prescribed trade union or association, being a trade union or association whose members consist of or include—

(i)persons holding operators' licences or carriers' licences; or

(ii)employees of any such persons ;

(b)a chief officer of police ;

(c)a local authority,

may object to the grant of any application of which notice has been published under subsection (1) of this section on the ground that any of the requirements mentioned in section 64(2) of this Act are not satisfied in the case of the application.

(4)Any objection under this section shall be made within the prescribed time and in the prescribed manner (which shall be stated in the notice published under subsection (1) of this section) and shall contain particulars of the ground on which it is made.

(5)The onus of proof of the existence of the ground on which an objection is made shall lie on the objector.

(6)In this section—

• " local authority " means—

  (a)

  as respects England and Wales, the council of a county, county borough, county district or London borough, the Greater London Council and the Common Council of the City of London ;

  (b)

  as respects Scotland, a county council and a town council;

• " trade union " has the same meaning as in the [1913 c. 30. (2 & 3 Geo. 5).] Trade Union Act 1913.

64Decision on applications for operators' licences

(1)On an application for an operator's licence, the licensing authority shall in every case consider whether the requirements mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d) of subsection (2) of this section, and, if the licensing authority in any case thinks fit, paragraph (e) of that subsection, are satisfied, and in doing so shall have regard to any objection duly made under section 63 of this Act.

(2)The said requirements are as follows—

(a)that the applicant is a fit person to hold an operator's licence, having regard to the matters of which particulars may be required to be given under section 62(4)(d) and (e) of this Act;

(b)that the proposals in any statement furnished by the applicant under section 62(3) of this Act are satisfactory;

(c)that there will be satisfactory arrangements for securing that Part VI of this Act (or, so long as those sections remain in force, sections 73 and 186 of the Act of 1960) will be complied with in the case of the authorised vehicles, and for securing that those vehicles are not overloaded;

(d)that there will be satisfactory facilities and arrangements for maintaining the authorised vehicles in a fit and serviceable condition;

(e)that the provision of such facilities and arrangements as are mentioned in paragraph (d) of this subsection will not be prejudiced by reason of the applicant's having insufficient financial resources for that purpose.

(3)If the licensing authority determines that any requirement which he has taken into consideration in accordance with subsection (1) of this section is not satisfied, he shall refuse the application but, in any other case, he shall, subject to subsection (4) of this section, grant the application.

(4)In any case in which the licensing authority grants an application for an operator's licence, the licensing authority may issue that licence in the terms applied for or, if the authority thinks fit, subject to either or both of the following modifications or limitations, that is to say—

(a)so that the licence is in respect of motor vehicles other than those of which particulars were contained in the application, or in respect of motor vehicles or trailers greater or less in number than, or differing in type from, those for the use of which authorisation was applied for;

(b)so that the licence does not permit the addition of authorised vehicles under section 61(1)(c) of this Act.

(5)In exercising his functions under this section in relation to the requirement mentioned in subsection (2)(e) thereof, a licensing authority may be assisted by an assessor drawn from a panel of persons appointed by the Minister for that purpose; and there shall be paid by the licensing authority to any such assessor in respect of his services remuneration on a scale prescribed by the Minister with the approval of the Treasury.

65Conditions as to transport managers

(1)In every operator's licence granted by a licensing authority on an application made after the appointed day for the purposes of this section there shall be specified, in relation to each place in the area of the authority which, when the licence is granted, will be an operating centre of the holder of the licence, a person (being the holder of the licence, if an individual, or a person employed by him) who is to be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the authorised vehicles normally used from that centre, and it shall be a condition of the licence—

(a)that the person so specified shall be the holder of a transport manager's licence of the prescribed class; and

(b)if the person so specified is an employee of the holder of the operator's licence, that that person is employed by him in a position of responsibility specified in the licence.

(2)Where, at any time after an operators' licence has been granted as mentioned in subsection (1) of this section by the licensing authority for any area, a place in that area becomes an operating centre of the holder of the licence, that subsection shall, at the expiration of the period of three months beginning at that time, apply to the new operating centre as it applies to any operating centre which the holder of the licence has when the licence is granted.

(3)Unless in any case the licensing authority in his discretion otherwise determines, the person specified in any licence for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section in relation to any operating centre of any person shall not be the same as the person specified for those purposes in relation to any other operating centre of that person, whether in that licence or in any other operator's licence which is then held by him.

(4)The licensing authority may, if he thinks fit, permit the responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the authorised vehicles normally used from any particular operating centre to be shared between two or more persons; and, in any such case, subsection (1) of this section shall have effect—

(a)as if it required both or all of those persons to be specified in the licence, together with the manner in which the responsibility is to be shared between them; and

(b)as if references in paragraphs (a) and (b) to the person specified in the licence were references to each of the persons so specified by virtue of this subsection.

(5)In specifying for the purposes of subsection (1) of this section a position of responsibility to be held by any person, the licensing authority shall secure that that person thereby carries direct responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the authorised vehicles normally used from the operating centre in question or such share of that responsibility as may have been allocated to him under the last foregoing subsection.

(6)For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section a director of a company shall be deemed to be employed by it; and where the authorised vehicles are to be operated by the holder of an operator's licence in partnership with other persons, any of those other persons may be specified in the licence for the purposes of that subsection, but, if any of them is so specified, it shall be an additional condition of the licence that the authorised vehicles are operated by the holder of the licence in partnership with the person so specified.

(7)Where at any time a person specified in an operator's licence for the purposes of any condition imposed by or under this section dies, or ceases to be employed by the holder of the licence in a position of responsibility specified therein, or ceases to hold a transport manager's licence of the prescribed class, or any other event occurs whereby such a condition is contravened, that condition shall nevertheless be deemed not to have been contravened—

(a)during the period of three months beginning at that time or such longer period as the licensing authority who issued the operator's licence may in any particular case allow; and

(b)if before the expiration of that period the holder of the operator's licence duly applies for the licence to be varied for the purpose of bringing the contravention to an end, during the period until the application, and any appeal arising out of it, have been disposed of.

(8)The Minister may by regulations—

(a)modify the requirements of subsections (1) to (6) of this section in any respect, or substitute for any of them such other requirements relating to transport managers' licences as may be specified in the regulations ;

(b)substitute for the period of three months mentioned in subsection (7)(a) of this section such longer period as may be specified in the regulations;

and such regulations may make different provision for different cases and may contain such transitional and supplementary provisions as the Minister thinks necessary or expedient.

(9)Subject to subsection (7) of this section, any person who uses an authorised vehicle from an operating centre of his for a purpose for which it cannot lawfully be used without the authority of an operator's licence—

(a)at a time when a condition under this section of an operator's licence held by him is contravened in relation to that operating centre; or

(b)at a time when the matters required by virtue of subsection (1) or (2) of this section to be specified in relation to that operating centre in an operator's licence held by him are not so specified,

shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200.

(10)Schedule 9 to this Act shall have effect in relation to transport managers' licences.

(11)In this section references to responsibility for the operation of any vehicles include (without prejudice to the generality of that expression) references to responsibility for securing that the drivers of the vehicles are properly licensed and comply with Part VI of this Act or, so long as those sections remain in force, sections 73 and 186 of the Act of 1960.

66Conditions as to matters required to be notified to licensing authority

(1)A licensing authority, in granting an operator's licence, may attach thereto such conditions as he thinks fit for requiring the holder to inform him—

(a)of any change, of a kind specified in the conditions, in the organisation, management or ownership of the trade or business in the course of which the authorised vehicles are used;

(b)where the holder of the licence is a company, of any change, or of any change of a kind so specified, in the persons holding shares in the company ;

(c)of any other event of a kind so specified affecting the holder of the licence which is relevant to the exercise of any powers of the authority in relation to the licence.

(2)Any person who contravenes any condition attached under this section to a licence of which he is the holder shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200.

67Duration of operators' licences and grant of interim licences

(1)There shall be specified in every operator's licence the date on which the licence is to come into force.

(2)Regulations may specify the dates in the year on which operators' licences shall expire, and, subject to subsections (4) and (5) of this section, an operator's licence shall, unless previously revoked, continue in force up till and including that one of the specified dates which occurs next before the expiration of the period of five years beginning with the date on which the licence came into force, or of such other period beginning with that date as the licensing authority may in accordance with the next following subsection direct.

(3)The licensing authority may, on granting an operator's licence, direct that in the case of that licence the period relevant for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section—

(a)shall be a period shorter than five years—

(i)if the applicant for the licence so requests; or

(ii)if the application is made by a person who does not hold an operator's licence when the application is made;

(b)shall be a period longer or shorter than five years if the licensing authority is of opinion that it is desirable so to direct in order to arrange a suitable and convenient programme of work for the licensing authority.

(4)If, at the date on which an operator's licence is due to expire, proceedings are pending before the licensing authority on an application by the holder of that licence for the grant to him of a new licence in substitution therefor, the existing licence shall continue in force until—

(a)the application ; and

(b)any appeal under section 70 of this Act arising out of, the application,

are disposed of, without prejudice, however, to the exercise in the meantime of the powers conferred by section 69 of this Act.

(5)If an applicant for an operator's licence so requests, a licensing authority may, if the applicant does not hold an operator's licence granted by that authority, grant to him, pending the determination of the application, an operator's licence expressed to continue in force until the date on which any licence granted on the application or on an appeal arising out of it is expressed to come into force or, if no licence is granted as aforesaid, until the application is refused; and a request for the grant of a licence under this subsection shall not for the purposes of section 63 or 64 of this Act be treated as an application for an operator's licence, and a licence granted under this subsection shall not for the purposes of section 65 of this Act be treated as an operator's licence.

68Variation of operators' licences

(1)On the application of the holder of an operator's licence, the licensing authority by whom the licence was granted may at any time while it is in force vary the licence by directing—

(a)that additional vehicles be specified therein, that the maximum number of trailers or of motor vehicles specified therein under paragraph (b) or (c) of section 61(1) of this Act be increased, or, if the licence does not permit the addition of authorised vehicles under the said paragraph (c), that it shall so permit and that a maximum be specified under that paragraph accordingly ; or

(b)that vehicles specified therein be removed therefrom or that any such maximum as is mentioned in paragraph (a) of this subsection be reduced; or

(c)that an alteration or addition be made in or to any of the matters specified in the licence for the purposes of section 65 of this Act; or

(d)that an alteration be made in any condition attached to the licence under section 66 of this Act or that any such condition be removed.

(2)A person applying for a direction under this section shall give to the licensing authority such information as he may reasonably require for the discharge of his duties in relation to the application.

(3)Any information or particulars to be given to a licensing authority under subsection (2) of this section shall be given in such form as the authority may require.

(4)Except in the following cases, that is to say—

(a)where the application is for a direction under subsection (1)(a) of this section and the licensing authority is satisfied that, if the application were an application under section 63 of this Act, no notice of it would be required to be published by virtue of subsection (2) of that section; or

(b)where the application is for a direction under subsection (1)(b) of this section ; or

(c)where the licensing authority is satisfied that the application is of so trivial a nature that it is not necessary that an opportunity should be given for objecting to it,

the licensing authority shall publish notice of any application under this section in the manner provided for the publication of notices under subsection (1) of the said section 63 ; and where notice of the application is published in pursuance of this subsection the other provisions of the said section 63 and the pro-Visions of section 64 of this Act shall, so far as applicable and subject to any necessary modifications, apply to that application as they apply to an application for the grant of an operator's licence of which notice is published under subsection (1) of the said section 63.

(5)If an applicant under this section so requests, the licensing authority may, pending the determination of the application, give an interim direction under this section, that is to say, a direction expressed to continue in force only until the application, and any appeal arising out of it, have been disposed of; and a request for such a direction shall not for the purposes of subsection (4) of this section be treated as an application under this section.

69Revocation, suspension and curtailment of operators' licences

(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, the licensing authority by whom an operator's licence was granted may direct that it be revoked, suspended or curtailed on any of the following grounds—

(a)that the holder of the licence has contravened section 65 of this Act or any condition attached to his licence under section 66 of this Act;

(b)that during the five years ending with the date on which the direction is given there has been (whether before or after the day on which this section comes into force)—

(i)any such conviction as is mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (f) of subsection (4) of this section or any such prohibition as is mentioned in paragraph (h) of that subsection ; or

(ii)any such conviction as is mentioned in paragraph (g) of that subsection on occasions appearing to the licensing authority to be sufficiently numerous to justify the giving of a direction under this subsection ;

(c)that the holder of the licence made or procured to be made for the purposes of his application for the licence, or for the purposes of an application for the variation of the licence, a statement of fact which (whether to his knowledge or not) was false, or a statement of intention or expectation which has not been fulfilled;

(d)that the holder of the licence has been adjudicated bankrupt or, where the holder is a company, has gone into liquidation (not being a voluntary liquidation for the purpose of reconstruction);

(e)that there has been since the licence was granted or varied a material change in any of the circumstances of the holder of the licence which were relevant to the grant or variation of his licence;

(f)that the licence is liable to revocation, suspension or curtailment by virtue of a direction under subsection (6) of this section ;

and during any time of suspension the licence shall be of no effect.

(2)In any case in which a licensing authority has power to give a direction under the foregoing subsection in respect of any licence, the authority shall also have power to direct that there be attached to the licence any, or any additional, condition such as is mentioned in section 66 of this Act.

(3)Where the existence of any of the grounds mentioned in subsection (1) of this section is brought to the notice of the licensing authority in the case of the holder of any licence granted by him, the authority shall consider whether or not to give a direction under this section in respect of that licence.

(4)The convictions and prohibitions mentioned in subsection (1)(b) of this section are as follows—

(a)a conviction, in relation to a goods vehicle, of the holder of the licence, or a servant or agent of his, of contravening any provision (however expressed) contained in or having effect under any enactment (including any enactment passed after this Act) relating to—

(i)the maintenance of vehicles in a fit and serviceable condition;

(ii)limits of speed and weight laden and unladen, and the loading of goods vehicles;

(iii)the licensing of drivers;

(b)a conviction of the holder of the licence under—

(i)this Part of this Act or Schedule 9 thereto;

(ii)section 233 or 235 of the Act of 1960 so far as applicable (by virtue of Schedule 10 to this Act) to licences, authorisations or means of identification under this Part of this Act or Schedule 9 thereto;

(iii)any regulation made under this Act which is prescribed for the purposes of this subsection;

(c)a conviction, in relation to a goods vehicle, of the holder of the licence or a servant or agent of his under, or of conspiracy to contravene, Part VI of this Act or section 73 or 186 of the Act of 1960;

(d)a conviction of the holder of the licence under section 7 of the [1938 c. 44.] Road Haulage Wages Act 1938 (which makes failure to pay the statutory remuneration under that Act an offence);

(e)a conviction, in relation to a goods vehicle, of the holder of the licence under, or of conspiracy to contravene, section 200 of the [1952 c. 44.] Customs and Excise Act 1952 (unlawful use of rebated fuel oil);

(f)a conviction of the holder of the licence under section 18 of the [1967 c. 30.] Road Safety Act 1967 (operator's duty to inspect, and keep records of inspection of, goods vehicles);

(g)a conviction, in relation to a goods vehicle, of the holder of the licence, or a servant or agent of his, of contravening any provision (however expressed) which prohibits or restricts the waiting of vehicles, being a provision contained in an order made under section 1, 6, 9 or 11 of the [1967 c. 76.] Road Traffic Regulation Act 1967 (including any such order made by virtue of section 84A(2) of that Act) or under any enactment repealed by that Act and re-enacted by any of those sections;

(h)a prohibition of the use of a vehicle under section 184 of the Act of 1960 or of the driving of a vehicle under section 16 of the Road Safety Act 1967, being a vehicle of which the holder of the licence was the owner when the prohibition was imposed.

(5)Where the licensing authority directs that an operator's licence be revoked, the authority may order the person who was the holder thereof to be disqualified, indefinitely or for such period as the authority thinks fit, from holding or obtaining an operator's licence, and so long as the disqualification is in force—

(a)notwithstanding anything in section 64 of this Act, no operator's licence shall be granted to him and any operator's licence obtained by him shall be of no effect; and

(b)if he applies for or obtains an operator's licence he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200.

An order under this subsection may be limited so as to apply only to the holding or obtaining of an operator's licence in respect of the area of one or more specified licensing authorities and, if the order is so limited, paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection shall apply only to any operator's licence to which the order applies; but, notwithstanding section 61(2)(b) of this Act, no other operator's licence held by the person in question shall authorise the use by him of any vehicle at a time when its operating centre is in an area in respect of which he is disqualified by virtue of the order.

(6)Where the licensing authority makes an order under subsection (5) of this section in respect of any person, the authority may direct that if that person, at any time or during such period as the authority may specify—

(a)is a director of, or holds a controlling interest in—

(i)a company which holds a licence of the kind to which the order in question applies; or

(ii)a company of which such a company as aforesaid is a subsidiary ; or

(b)operates any goods vehicles in partnership with a person who holds such a licence,

that licence of that company, or, as the case may be, of that person, shall be liable to revocation, suspension or curtailment under this section.

(7)The powers conferred by subsections (5) and (6) of this section in relation to the person who was the holder of a licence shall be exercisable also, where that person was a company, in relation to any director of that company, and, where that person operated the authorised vehicles in partnership with other persons, in relation to any of those other persons.

(8)A licensing authority who has made an order or given a direction under subsection (5), (6) or (7) of this section may, in such circumstances as may be prescribed, cancel that order or direction.

(9)A licensing authority shall not—

(a)give a direction under subsection (1) or (2) of this section in respect of any licence ; or

(b)make an order or give a direction under subsection (5), (6) or (7) of this section in respect of any person,

without first holding an inquiry if the holder of the licence or that person, as the case may be, requests him to do so.

(10)The licensing authority may direct that any direction or order given or made by him under subsection (1), (2), (5), (6) or (7) of this section shall not take effect until the expiration of the time within which an appeal may be made to the Transport Tribunal against the direction or order and, if such an appeal is made, until the appeal has been disposed of; and if the licensing authority refuses to give a direction under this subsection the holder of the licence, or, as the case may be, the person in respect of whom the direction or order was given or made under any of those subsections, may apply to the tribunal for such a direction, and the tribunal shall give its decision on the application within fourteen days.

(11)For the purposes of this section a person holds a controlling interest in a company if he is the beneficial owner of more than half its equity share capital as defined in section 154(5) of the [1948 c. 38.] Companies Act 1948.

70Rights of appeal in connection with operators' licences

(1)Subject to subsection (2) of this section, a person who—

(a)being an applicant for, or for the variation of, an operator's licence, is aggrieved by the refusal of the application or, as the case may be, by the terms or conditions of the licence or of the variation ; or

(b)being the holder of an operator's licence in respect of which, or a person in respect of whom, a direction or order has been given or made under section 61(6) or 69(1) to (7) of this Act, is aggrieved by that direction or order; or

(c)having duly made an objection to an application for, or for the variation of, an operator's licence, is aggrieved by the grant of the application,

may appeal to the Transport Tribunal.

(2)No appeal shall lie under the foregoing subsection on the ground that a direction has been given under subsection (3) of section 67 of this Act if it has been given by virtue of paragraph (b) of the said subsection (3).