FROM THE OFFICE OF
WWW.EXPORTANDFREIGHT.COM
David Mullan Head of Transport Regulation Unit
ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC INQUIRIES Welcome to this edition of the TRU update. Previously, we advised that the Department was recommencing public inquiries, and the necessity of full and open engagement between operators and the Department. The completion of a range of public inquiries in recent months allows a fuller update on the benefits of communicating early with the Department. Engagement with the Department can be a doubleedged sword. On the one hand it can be of great benefit and, for some, essential in retaining your authorisation to carry goods on the road. On the other, where the only engagement is at a public inquiry, the results can be detrimental. Recently the Transport Regulation Unit concluded a two year long process of engagement with one of Northern Ireland’s largest operators. Initially this operator was having difficulty with drivers’ hours, but engaged fully with the Department and implemented new, best practice processes and procedures. A driver retraining programme was introduced and the impact was visible almost immediately. Although enforcement has been reduced during the pandemic, roadside encounters for this operator were getting a green light confirming that improvements off the road were having the desired
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impact on it. The Department will follow up with this operator in a year’s time to ensure that this good progress is maintained. Providing the Department with early notice of infringements and convictions – as per the requirement of your operator’s licence – an operator can benefit from engagement with the Department and DVA and avoid being called to a public inquiry. Leaving matters until after being called to an inquiry may be considered a case of ‘too little, too late’. The role of the licensing and regulatory regime is to assist the wider industry, not hinder it, with road safety and fair competition at the forefront of our daily activities. Therefore, when an operator is called to public inquiry, it is because the Department is concerned that they may be creating a risk to safety and/or competition. If the Department is not satisfied that an operator can be trusted to
comply with the licensing regime then that authority to operate may be destined to come to an end. Since November 2020 the Department has held 24 public inquiries – 14 online, and 10 in person. The Department has prioritised the most concerning cases, and the prioritisation appears to have been justified. Of the eight applications considered at public inquiry half have not been granted, and those that were granted had additional conditions applied. Regulatory hearings accounted for the other 16 cases and these hearings concluded with 9 licences revoked, 7 people disqualified, 6 licences being curtailed (reduced fleet), and two temporarily suspended. If you are called to a public inquiry you should prepare accordingly. Read the material issued and, if required, seek
legal or professional assistance. These are serious matters, and your livelihood could be at risk. Ensure that you provide the material requested within the deadline specified. If you need any assistance you can contact the caseworker using the contact information on the call up letter. The caseworker is there to help you through this process. Notification of upcoming public inquiries, and decisions from those hearings, can be found on the weekly Applications & Decisions publication. Further information can be found in the Department’s published Guide to Public Inquiries.
FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS AND DOCUMENTATION FOR APPLICATIONS AND LICENCE CONTINUATIONS When you submit a variation application, a change of entity application, or during the five yearly licence review, the Department will check that the finance requirement is, or continues to be, met. This is to ascertain that the
