Public inquiries are a very serious matter for any transport business. Unlike a regular court, the Traffic Commissioner (who sits in judgment at a public inquiry) has the power to put you out of bussiness with the stroke of a pen.

1. Allegations relating to your conduct and to decide whether to terminate or suspend your licence, apply other disciplinary action and whether to disqualify you from operating vehicles in the future.

2. Deciding on an appliction for a new licence or whether or not to grant a variation to an existing licence with or without conditions

There are two types of public inquiry you may be called to:

The bare statistics make grim reading for any operator with a public inquiry. The latest figures available are for the year 2009 / 2010*. The results out of 1,130 public inquiries for operator conduct in this period are :

Termination	Suspension	Curtailment**	Formal warning	Disqualification	No Action
339 (30%)	95 (8.4%)	273 (24%)	348 (31%)	60 (5.3%)	77 (7.8%)

The trigger for a public inquiry could be any number of things. The most common are an adverse inspection report from VOSA or convictions in the courts. Less than 8% of operators leave a public inquiry with no action taken against them.

* Data from the Traffic Commissioners' Annual Reports 2009-10 **Includes curtailment and conditions imposed

Successfully dealing with public inquiries is one of our specialisms. You should speak to us as soon as you become aware of a public inquiry. Early preparation can make the difference.

A typical case would see us undertake a detailed examination of your operation, your records and procedures. You'll be given detailed advice and we devise a strategy to achieve your objective.

We'd normally prepare a detailed dosier to back up your case. This could include vehicle records, photographs, contracts, policies and a whole host of other documentation all carefully selected as evidence to support you.

PUBLIC INQUIRIES