Travel Express Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport

Facts

Travel Express Ltd held a standard national PSV operator's licence for 15 vehicles and ran local bus services. Its sole director, Mr Kishan Chumber, and Mr Nirmal Johal were its designated transport managers. The company had already been called to three public inquiries. At the last one, on 20 November 2019, it gave undertakings to carry out roller brake tests every 12 weeks and to inspect vehicles every five weeks, and was told that this was its last chance. In October 2023 a Vehicle Examiner visited the operator's premises and rated nine of thirteen areas unsatisfactory. An immediate prohibition was imposed for a tyre below the legal tread depth. The examiner's report said it "could be deemed" that not all vehicles met the 12-week roller brake testing requirement. A separate DVSA monitoring exercise recorded serious punctuality failures on the operator's local bus services. After a public inquiry on 10 April 2024, the Traffic Commissioner for the West Midlands decided on 3 May 2024 to revoke the licence under section 17 of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981. The Commissioner also found that both transport managers had lost their good repute and disqualified them under paragraph 7B(2) of Schedule 3 to the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981, Mr Chumber for four years and Mr Johal for three. A financial penalty was imposed under section 155 of the Transport Act 2000. The Upper Tribunal granted a stay of the revocation, and the operator appealed. On the morning of the hearing the operator withdrew its grounds challenging the financial penalty. That left grounds attacking the revocation and the disqualifications.