Public Inquiries in Edinburgh and Throughout Scotland

Public Inquiries in Edinburgh and throughout Scotland

The Scottish Traffic Area is run from the Office of the Traffic Commissioner at the Old Stamp Office in Waterloo Square in Edinburgh. The Traffic Commissioner is Joan Aitken.

Most public inquiries in Scotland take place in Edinburgh. From time to time public inquiries are also held in Aberdeen, Inverness, Glasgow and sometimes on the islands.

Public inquiries take place in Scotland in connection with both goods vehicle and passenger vehicle operator licences. Public inquiries are held to consider disciplinary action against operator licence holders where there is evidence that they may have breached the law or the conditions of their licence. They are also called to consider applications for new operators licences or where there is an application to make changes to an existing licence. The vast majority of applications are dealt with without a public inquiry, but problematic ones go to public inquiry for consideration.

You can find out more about the public inquiry process on our page called About Public Inquiries. Basically, a public inquiry is a formal legal hearing set up a bit like a court or tribunal. Evidence, witnesses and legal arguments all take place and a formal legally binding decision is made by the Traffic Commissioner.

The Scottish Traffic Area

The Scottish Traffic Area covers a larger area than any other traffic area within Great Britain. It covers the whole of mainland Scotland as well as the islands including the Western Isles, the Orkney Islands and the Shetlands.

There are 6,300 business in Scotland licensed to operate goods vehicles and 900 licenced to operate passenger vehicles.

Public Inquiries in Edinburgh

Most public inquiries in the Scottish Traffic Area are dealt with in Edinburgh where there is a purpose built court room. The hearings will be heard by the Traffic Commissioner or a deputy Traffic Commissioner.

In the year 2014/2015 there were a total of 85 goods vehicle and 49 passenger vehicle public inquiries in the Scottish Traffic Area.

Of the goods vehicle public inquiries, 55 of them were to consider disciplinary action and 30 for considering applications. 29 of the passenger vehicle public inquiries were for application to be decided and 20 for disciplinary action.

Outcomes of Goods Vehicle (HGV) Public Inquiries in the Scottish Traffic Area

Result of disciplinary public inquiries :

From goods vehicle public inquiries called for disciplinary action, 7 resulted in the operators licence being revoked. 5 goods vehicle licences were suspended and 25 were curtailed. Only 5 (less than 10%) resulted in no action taken.

Result of applications heard at public inquiry :

30 applications were dealt with at public inquiries over the course of the year. One of these was refused outright but only nine were granted in full. The majority of them were granted partially or with conditions. .

The outcome of passenger vehicle public inquiries in Scotland

The result of disciplinary public inquiries for passenger vehicle operator licences was as follows:

Out of 29 public inquiries for disciplinary action, 10, just over one third, resulted in revocation of the licence. One was suspended and 2 curtailed. Others were subject to conditions or formal warnings and only 4 resulted in no action taken.

Result of applications heard at public inquiry :

There were 20 applications dealt with at public inquiry. Six of these were refused outright, fourteen were granted in full.

What to do if you've been called to a public inquiry in Scotland

First of all, recognise that any public inquiry called for any reason is a very serious thing. Secondly recognise that getting legal advice and having an experienced transport law solicitor on your side is at least half of the problem sorted.

A good transport law specialist will be able to get stuck into your case and do all sorts of things to get you ready to face the Traffic Commissioner and come away with a good outcome.

We strongly recommend that you speak to us urgently if you've had a call to public inquiry. Nearly all of our clients (well over 90%) have a successful outcome at their public inquiries.

We regularly handle public inquiries at Edinburgh and know exactly how to prepare and present a successful case. We've been doing it for years and have helped hundreds of operators through what is always a very difficult and uncertain time.

Your chance of a successful outcome at your public inquiry increases dramatically if you have experienced and skilled legal representation. So choosing a good transport solicitor is of vital importance.

Contact Us About Your Public Inquiry

Please get in touch with us without charge or obligation.

Contact us today and we'll give you an idea about how we might be able to help you. We will be very glad to talk through your situation and review your papers free of charge to help you to make an informed decision about what to do.

You can call us any time on 0800 1777 522 or alternatively you can email us or make a Free Online Enquiry

Latest Blogs

Case Study : Operator Survives with Warning
May 01, 2022

Case Study : Public Inquiry on Change of Entity
October 01, 2021

Case Study : New PSV Application in the South East
May 01, 2021

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Case Study : Operator Survives with Warning 01 May 2022

Transport Law

We were approached by an operator who had received public inquiry paper several weeks earlier. The Operator instructed us to represent him at his inquiry listed for a hearing before the Traffic Commissioner’s (TC) only two weeks in advance.

There were several serious issues that the TC indicated he wanted to examine at the hearing and was threatening regulatory action against the Operator Company. The Operator had approached another firm of solicitors, who informed him that the likely outcome of the hearing would be loss of repute and licence revocation.

We provided the Operator with advice about immediate steps to be taken in preparation for the hearing. We requested the operator send us a number of documents critical to the success of his inquiry. A consideration of those document showed significant—but not insurmountable—shortfalls in maintenance standards and legal requirements.

The operator had recently appointed a new Transport Manager (TM) with an excellent reputation in his field. The TM worked along with us in analysing the Company’s compliance systems to create better compliance systems and improve the of the Company’s mindset about such.

We prepared extensive written representations and sent these to the TC in advance of the hearing along with supporting documentation.

We recommended that both the Operator (Director) and his Transport Manager attend the hearing. As expected the TC questioned the Operator and TM extensively about the various issued raised. We guided and advised the Operator and TM throughout the hearing. Following our final submissions, the TC decided not to revoke the licence or disqualify the Operator Company. The Operator was issued with a warning and a very short suspension of one vehicle until it had a further maintenance inspection and remedial work done. The Operator was allowed to keep the rest of his fleet working with minimal disruption to the business. The Operator was thrilled with our services and has since instructed us at least one other transport matter.

Case Study : Public Inquiry on Change of Entity 01 October 2021

Transport Law

We recently represented two companies who were both called to the same public inquiry. Although separate entities, the companies were closely connected because of having the same set of directors. One of the companies (the Operator) had years previously been issued with a restricted goods vehicle operator’s licence. The other company had recently applied for the same kind of licence (the Applicant).

Over the previous year, the directors had decided to progressively move most of the Operator’s business interests to its sister company the Applicant. Without understanding the potential consequences, and before being granted its operator’s licence, the Applicant began using the Operator’s heavy goods vehicle. The Operator company had not informed the Traffic Commissioner (TC) of its change in business arrangements and of the apparent change of entity (though the companies were actually wholly owned subsidiaries of another company – see below).

The Public Inquiry was convened because of changes at this business group and a fundamental misunderstanding of the operator’s licence regime, and that there had been what appeared to be a change of entity involving the companies.

The TC needed to be satisfied as to whether the companies were not unfit to hold an operator’s licence due to relevant activities and convictions, and about the events relating to a change in the circumstances of the licence holder. The Operator risked revocation of its licence. The Applicant was at risk of not having its licence granted.

In advance of the inquiry, and to start building their case, we obtained as much information as we could about the businesses and provided each company comprehensive legal advice. We examined the companies’ compliance systems and made recommendations about immediate and longer-term changes that needed to be implemented. On our recommendations, the companies invested time and resources into their maintenance and other systems

As a result of our preliminary work and advice, the companies were fully prepared for the public inquiry hearing. In particular, to answer questions and provide evidence about the apparent change of entity.

At the hearing we demonstrated that the companies were running professional and competent businesses. With specific reference to the issue of the apparent change of entity, the TC accepted that Section 3(4) of the Goods vehicle (licencing of operators) Act 1995 was relevant and that this was not a typical “change of entity” case – because of the companies being subsidiaries. We were able to persuade the TC that the issues that lead to the inquiry arose out of ignorance rather than an attempt to mislead or gain financial advantage

The TC granted the new licence to the Applicant with the Operator company voluntarily surrendering its licence. The directors were delighted with the outcome of the public inquiry hearing and that they managed to avoid the damaging consequences they feared.

Case Study : New PSV Application in the South East 01 May 2021

Transport Law

We were approached by a small business owner to represent them at the a public inquiry which had been called to consider their application for a new passenger vehicle operator’s licence.

The person applying for the licence had a long background of work in the transport industry as a driver but had never before operated his own transport business. One of the key issues was that the nominated transport manager was also nominated some other licences and the Traffic Commissioner was concerned whether this meant that the transport manager would be able to properly carry out their duties on so many licences at once.

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