Safety concerns for TCs’ staff continue, says annual report
Safety for workers at the Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC) remained a concern due to continued “physical incidents and online abuse” in 2024-25, according to the traffic commissioners’ (TCs) annual report to the transport secretary.
This is the last such report to be compiled under the stewardship of Richard Turfitt, prior to his handing over the role of senior traffic commissioner to Kevin Rooney.
The report says: “We reported last year on concerns for the safety and working environment of those deployed to the Office of the Traffic Commissioner… We regret that those concerns extend to both commissioners and OTC staff with physical incidents and online abuse continuing during the reporting period.
“Some progress has been made towards the necessary control measures, but this must clearly be a priority for the new chief operating officer and Department for Transport. Traffic commissioners have set out explicit warnings in the terms and conditions for access to the Vehicle Operator Licensing business system, which operators and their representatives rely on to manage their operator licence details.”
This is just one of the concerns raised by the report, which also highlights for the second year running that several of the tribunal centres used by the TCs do not meet the currently agreed specifications.
“The tribunal centres are not currently compliant with the legal standards, and we are awaiting DVSA to take the appropriate action,” the report says, highlighting a lack of accessibility, including an absence of equipment to assist the hard of hearing.
“The licensing staff and North-Eastern tribunal have moved into a shared government building. This was intended to deliver modern tribunal and office facilities. It is unclear why it was thought appropriate to agree to restrictions on visitors to such an extent that the concept of a fair and public hearing may be open to challenge. This is not acceptable in a modern tribunal,” the report warns.
Concerns are raised over staffing, particularly the time taken to recruit replacement TCs, with security clearance alone taking up to four months as per Civil Service processes.
“The absence of a full-time traffic commissioner presents a real risk to the listing of safety-related cases and to the efficient determination of applications. The absence of a full-time traffic commissioner for Scotland is a particular risk due to the devolved legislation related to local bus services. The delay in appointing even an acting traffic commissioner has not assisted. We remain hopeful that this vacancy will be filled by Autumn 2025 and lessons can be learned from how the recruitment process can be accelerated and improved in the future.”
In terms of regulatory enforcement, the traffic commissioners highlight issues including fair competition, driver employment, vehicle maintenance and financial standing.
Bridge strikes by large vehicle operators continue to be a bugbear for the TCs, having reissued guidance on the topic in October 2024.
“This issue has been addressed in regulatory proceedings, such as a case where an operator’s vehicle was involved in a bridge strike after being improperly allocated to a driver,” the report says.
“The traffic commissioner for the West of England issued a formal warning in that instance. However, the incident had substantial financial repercussions for the business, ultimately resulting in the operator failing to meet financial standing requirements and the revocation of their licence.”
The TCs also emphasise the importance of compliance with drivers’ hours rules, citing a case in the West of England with a director who was identified as a serial offender over a period of seven years.
“As a result, the operator’s licence was suspended for nearly three months,” says the report.
“The transport manager was disqualified for ten years and is required to retake the Certificate of Professional Competence before returning to the role. Two drivers also faced sanctions: one had their vocational entitlement revoked and disqualified from holding the entitlement for a year, and the other was suspended for one month.”
The TCs warn that non-compliance with drivers’ hours often indicates inadequate management systems that may have an impact on broader ability to maintain compliance. This was demonstrated in another case, this time in the East of England.
“During the hearing, the director admitted that vehicles had not been specified for years, had been driven without a driver card inserted, and that both vehicle units and driver cards had not been downloaded for considerable periods,” the report recounts.
“The commissioner deemed the case to fall within the ‘serious’ category. It was only on receipt of onerous undertakings, that the commissioner was able to draw back from revoking the licence and instead curtailed it for a period.”
Restricted licence holders, the TCs say, have an increased risk of compliance gaps because of the absence of a qualified transport manager with a Certificate of Professional Competence. The TCs highlight how a plea of ignorance by a restricted licence holder was followed by revocation.
Traffic commissioners are also responsible for the regulation of drivers’ conduct. They point out that they can and will impose periods of vocational licence suspension in addition to any driving ban imposed by the court system, saying, “Drivers of large commercial vehicles are regarded as professional drivers and are therefore held to a higher standard of conduct.”
While digitalisation of the Vehicle Operator Licensing system had offered “significant benefits” the move online had also presented new challenges. For instance, an operator in the South-East had been sold, with the old management’s login details passed to the new owner.
As the report states: “The VOL terms and conditions clearly state that each user must apply for access in their own name, using their own username and password, which must never be shared. As a result of the misuse in this case, the operator’s licence was revoked, and a disqualification was imposed.”
The report says that the traffic commissioners continue to support operators involved in the collective legal claim against several truck manufacturers who had been found by the European Commission to have “colluded illegally on pricing and emissions technology”.
“The Traffic Commissioner Information Access Team received over 1,000 requests for data during the reporting year, reflecting the scale of potential claimants and the importance of this issue to the road haulage sector,” the report notes.
While the six English TCs publish a common report, the TCs for Wales and Scotland each produce their own. In addition to his roles as Senior TC and TC for the East of England, Richard Turfitt acts as TC for Scotland following the departure of previous incumbent Claire Gilmore. Much of the work was taken up by deputy traffic commissioners for Scotland, Hugh Olson and Kenneth Young.
“They have busy careers at the Bar, so I am grateful to them and the OTC team based in Edinburgh, for continuing the work to maintain standards,” TC Turfitt reported.
“Scotland piloted ‘online’ driver conduct hearings dealing with high-risk drivers during Covid. Those hearings are not always appropriate, particularly where vulnerable parties are involved and we will continue to ensure the accessibility and fairness of our proceedings. Through the hard work of OTC staff, I have been able to take the decision to list cases away from the tribunal centre in Edinburgh with the aim of better supporting the communities and industries of Scotland.”
Victoria Davies, the TC for Wales, reported that staffing and support had improved for her since last year. She now has two permanent bilingual caseworkers based in her Pontypridd office which has “greatly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the service provided to those attending public inquiry hearings”.
But she added: “Despite re-launching the recruitment campaign for a bilingual hearing centre manager, the DVSA was unable to recruit.
“Following discussion with Welsh government officials, it was agreed that the Welsh language requirement for that role should be lowered to attract candidates who were willing to undertake Welsh language training.
“I am pleased to report that an experienced OTC staff member, who had been carrying out that role temporarily since the re-structure, was successfully appointed.”
