Transport Act 1968

79 Revocation and suspension of special authorisations

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, the licensing authority by whom a special authorisation was granted may direct that it be revoked or suspended on the ground—

(a) that the holder has contravened section 71 of this Act by using a large goods vehicle otherwise than as permitted by the authorisation or has contravened any condition attached to the authorisation under section 76 of this Act;

(b) that since the authorisation was granted the holder has been convicted under section 81(4) of this Act;

(c) that the holder of the authorisation made or procured to be made for the purposes of his application for the authorisation, or for the purposes of an application for the variation of the authorisation, a statement of fact which (whether to his knowledge or not) was false, or a statement of intention or expectation which has not been fulfilled; or

(d) that there has been since the authorisation was granted or varied a material change in any of the circumstances of the holder of the authorisation which were relevant to the grant or variation of the authorisation;

and during any time of suspension the authorisation shall be of no effect.

(2) In any case in which a licensing authority has power to give a direction under subsection (1) of this section in respect of any authorisation, the authority shall also have power to direct that any alteration be made in its terms so as to restrict in any respect the transport service which it authorises, or that there be attached to the authorisation any, or any additional, condition such as is mentioned in section 76 of this Act, or that any such condition be altered.

(3) Where the licensing authority directs that a special authorisation be revoked, the authority may order the person who was the holder thereof to be disqualified, indefinitely or for such period as the authority thinks fit, from holding or obtaining a special authorisation, and so long as the disqualification is in force—

(a) notwithstanding anything in section 74 or 75 of this Act, no special authorisation shall be granted to him and any special authorisation obtained by him shall be of no effect; and

(b) if he applies for or obtains a special authorisation he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £200.

An order under this subsection may be limited so as to apply only to the holding or obtaining of a special authorisation in respect of the area of one or more specified licensing authorities and, if the order is so limited, paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection shall apply only to any special authorisation to which the order applies.

(4) A licensing authority who has made an order under subsection (3) of this section may, in such circumstances as may be prescribed, cancel that order.

(5) Where the licensing authority gives a direction under this section in respect of a special authorisation held by any person, the authority may also direct that any operator's licence held by that person be revoked, suspended or curtailed and, if he directs that it be revoked, may exercise the powers conferred by section 69(5) to (7) of this Act; and the provisions of section 69(8), (9) and (10) and of section 70(1)(5) of this Act shall apply to any direction or order given or made under or by virtue of this subsection as they apply to any direction or order given or made under any provision of section 69 of this Act.

(6) The licensing authority shall not exercise any of his powers under subsection (1), (2) or (3) of this section in respect of any authorisation or the holder of any authorisation without first holding an inquiry, if the holder of the authorisation requests him to do so.

(7) The licensing authority may direct that any direction or order given or made by him under subsection (1), (2) or (3) of this section shall not take effect until the expiration of the time within which an appeal may be made to the Transport Tribunal against the direction or order and, if such an appeal is made, until the appeal has been disposed of; and if the licensing authority refuses to give a direction under this subsection the holder of the authorisation may apply to the tribunal for such a direction, and the tribunal shall give its decision on the application within fourteen days.