Licence not granted after operator fails to make himself available for public inquiry
Clayton Jones has been refused permission to operate buses after
Traffic Commissioner Richard Turfitt ruled that he was not interested in working with the regulatory authorities.
The industry regulator refused to give Mr Jones a licence, after finding that his conduct on the application was frivolous or unreasonable.
Richard Turfitt, who is Traffic Commissioner for the East of England, concluded that Clayton Jones had failed to comply with directions and at various times had submitted an incomplete application and failed to make himself available for a public inquiry to take place.
In a written decision, Mr Turfitt said: “The onus has, at all times remained with the applicant to pursue the application. The applicant has been assisted in that process through advice from the Office of the Traffic Commissioner as to what is considered relevant.
“A traffic commissioner has had to be deployed from another area so that the applicant might be assured as to the fairness of the process. The applicant’s conduct has resulted in
a disproportionate expenditure of scarce O-Licence fees.”
Clayton Jones submitted his application in May 2013 and was asked by the Traffic Commissioner’s Office to provide further evidence – including of his financial standing and arrangements for proving professional competence.
A public inquiry was due to take place on February 4, 2014, but Mr Jones asked for an adjournment and then significantly changed the basis of his application. Richard Turfitt granted an adjournment.
The Traffic Commissioner’s office made further requests for evidence from Mr Jones and set a new hearing date for November 11, 2014, taking account of the applicant’s limited availability. Mr Jones then asked for a further adjournment of this date due to holiday arrangements. Following the failure to pursue the application the Traffic Commissioner decided to refuse the application on the papers.
The Traffic Commissioner added: “It is of course open to the applicant to renew his application in the usual way and hopefully with more diligence.”
