Transport Act 1968

74 Decision on applications for special authorisations

(1) If no objection to an application is duly made under section 73 of this Act, or if such an objection is duly made under subsection (3)(b) of that section, the licensing authority shall, subject to subsection (7) of this section, grant the application or, as the case may be, grant it in respect of the part of the transport service to which the objection does not relate.

(2) If an objection to an application is duly made under the said section 73, the licensing authority—

(a) shall grant the application in respect of the whole of the disputed service if satisfied that the condition mentioned in subsection (3) of this section is fulfilled in the case of the whole of the disputed service;

(b) shall grant the application in respect of any part of the disputed service if satisfied that the said condition is fulfilled in the case of that part;

but, save as aforesaid and subject to subsection (4) of this section, the licensing authority shall refuse the application.

(3) The condition referred to in subsection (2) of this section is that the provision of the disputed service, or of the part of that service in question, by the objector, or a subsidiary of the objector, wholly or partly by rail, as compared with its provision in pursuance of the special authorisation, will be less advantageous for the person for whom the goods in question are to be carried.

(4) If in the case of the whole or any part of the disputed service the licensing authority is not satisfied as mentioned in subsection (2) of this section, the authority shall nevertheless grant the application in respect of the disputed service or of any part of it if satisfied—

(a) that the provision of the service, or of that part of it, by the objector, or a subsidiary of the objector, wholly or partly by rail, as compared with its provision in pursuance of the special authorisation, will be equally advantageous for the person for whom the goods in question are to be carried; and

(b) that, if a special authorisation is not granted for the provision of the service or the part of it in question, serious detriment will result to a person (whether the applicant himself or some other person) for whom the applicant provides or proposes to provide a transport service other than the disputed service or other than the part of it in question.

(5) The factors relevant for making the comparison mentioned in subsections (3) and (4)(a) of this section shall be speed, reliability, cost, and such other matters relevant to the needs of the person for whom the goods in question are to be carried as may be prescribed; and the licensing authority shall assess the relative importance of those factors by reference to the needs of the person for whom the goods in question are to be carried and to the nature of those goods.

(6) In assessing the factors mentioned in subsection (5) of this section and the detriment mentioned in subsection (4)(b) of this section the licensing authority shall act in accordance with any directions contained in regulations made by the Minister.

(7) Where an application for a special authorisation is made by the Freight Corporation and no objection to it is made by the Railways Board, or where such an application is made by a subsidiary of that Corporation and no objection to it is made by that Board or by the Corporation, the licensing authority to whom the application is made shall grant the application only if and so far as he considers that it would have been granted if any objection reasonably open to the Board or, as the case may be, to the Board or the Corporation, had been made by them; and the licensing authority may for that purpose require the Board and the Corporation to give him such information and explanations as he may reasonably require.

(8) In exercising his functions under this section, a licensing authority may be assisted by an assessor drawn from a panel of persons appointed by the Minister for that purpose; and there shall be paid by the licensing authority to any such assessor in respect of his services remuneration on a scale prescribed by the Minister with the approval of the Treasury.

(9) In this section references to the person for whom any goods are to be carried are references, if the goods are to be carried for hire or reward, to the person for whom they are to be so carried, and, if the goods are to be carried by any person for or in connection with any trade or business carried on by him, to that person; and, subject to regulations under subsection (6) of this section, references to the cost of carrying any goods are references, where they are carried for hire or reward, to the charges made for their carriage and, where they are not so carried, to the cost of carrying them.