Public Inquiry Preparation Checklist

Public inquiry preparation starts with the call-up letter

An operator licence public inquiry is a formal hearing before a Traffic Commissioner. It may consider whether the licence should continue, whether conditions or undertakings are needed, whether authority should be curtailed, suspended or revoked, and whether directors or transport managers remain suitable for their roles. This Public Inquiry Preparation Checklist is written for operators who need to organise evidence quickly without losing sight of the real issue: whether the business can be trusted to operate compliantly in future.

Start with the call-up letter and any correspondence from the Office of the Traffic Commissioner. Mark every concern separately. Do not treat “compliance” as one broad issue. A roadworthiness concern needs different evidence from a drivers’ hours concern, and a financial standing issue needs a different response from a transport manager effectiveness issue. Read the letter alongside any DVSA examiner report, OCRS data, prohibition notices, annual test history and the licence record on VOL. If undertakings were given at a previous hearing or at grant, list them now and treat each one as its own evidence stream.

Issue map and evidence table

A simple issue map helps prevent defensive or selective preparation. For each allegation, identify the source document, the current position, the evidence available and the person who can explain it clearly.

Review the documents before building the bundle

Gathering documents is not the same as preparing for a hearing. Maintenance files, tachograph reports, financial evidence and management records should be reviewed critically before they are put into a bundle. Look for missing dates, conflicting explanations, unsigned records, late repairs, repeated infringements, unsupported claims and documents that do not match the operator’s account.

A common pattern is an operator producing a large bundle that looks impressive until it is tested. The PMI sheets are present, but brake test reports are missing. Driver infringement letters were printed, but there is no evidence of a discussion or retraining. A Transport Manager report exists, but no director acted on it. These are not only filing gaps; they can suggest weak control.

“The bundle that helps an operator at inquiry is not the biggest one. It is the one where every claim in the witness statement can be matched to a document with a date on it. If a director says the maintenance system was tightened in March, I want to see the contract change, the planner, the first PMI under the new arrangement and the management review that followed. Without that line of proof, the answer collapses under questioning.”

Liam Gafoor CMILT IOSH, Transport Compliance Adviser, Operator Licence Ltd

Prepare the people, not only the paperwork

The Traffic Commissioner will usually want to understand who knew about the problem, who had responsibility, what action was taken and how the operator now checks that the problem will not recur. Directors, partners, transport managers and senior staff should be able to explain their own role. They should not be given a script. They should be prepared honestly, so that weak areas are recognised and corrective action is clear.

Test whether each attendee can explain the maintenance system, defect escalation, tachograph monitoring, financial controls, operating centre arrangements and management review process where relevant. If they cannot, decide whether the weakness is training, governance, delegation or lack of involvement.

Witness statements from the transport manager and the lead director are usually the spine of the response. Each should set out their role, what they knew, when they knew it, what action they took, what they would do differently and how the new system reduces risk. The statements must agree with the bundle. If the TM statement says infringement letters are reviewed monthly, the tachograph file should show that review pattern. Inconsistencies between two witnesses do more damage at inquiry than the original failing.

Corrective action must be evidenced

Promises carry little weight unless the operator can show completed action. Strong preparation links each failing to a dated correction: a revised maintenance contract, a new planner, additional brake testing, a changed tachograph review process, director compliance meetings, external audits, driver retraining or a clearer Transport Manager reporting route.

Keep this in a single action log. One column for the original failing, one for the corrective action, one for the date completed, one for the responsible person and one for the evidence reference in the bundle. The Commissioner can then follow each issue from allegation to fix to proof without searching. Proof of change usually means a before-and-after pair: the old PMI interval against the new one, the previous infringement rate against the current one, the missed brake tests against a clean recent quarter.

Do not overstate the position. If an improvement is recent, say so. It is usually safer to explain what has been completed, what is still being embedded and how progress will be measured than to claim a mature system that the records cannot prove.

Build a clear chronology and bundle

The bundle should help the Commissioner follow the case. A practical structure is: call-up letter, licence and entity details, issue map, chronology, corrective action summary, then evidence sections for maintenance, drivers’ hours, finance, transport management and governance. Put the strongest current evidence near the relevant issue rather than hiding it in a large unsorted appendix.

The chronology should explain what the operation looked like before the problem, when concerns arose, what was found, what action was taken and what the position is now. Include dates for any prohibition, S marked defect, missed annual test, infringement spike, audit, change of TM and board decision. Prepare who will speak to each section and keep key documents immediately accessible for the hearing.

How Operator Licence Ltd can help

Operator Licence Ltd can help review your inquiry papers, build the issue map, test the evidence honestly and connect you with the right specialist support for representation, audit and transport manager assurance ahead of the hearing. The earlier this work starts, the more credible the final bundle.

Practical checklist

• Read the call-up letter and list each issue separately.
• Match every issue to evidence, responsibility and corrective action.
• Check maintenance, tachograph, finance, TM and governance records for gaps.
• Prepare directors and managers to explain their own role clearly.
• Draft witness statements that line up with the bundle on every claim.
• Keep an action log with dated corrections and evidence references.
• Evidence what has changed, when it changed and who now monitors it.
• Use a chronology so the inquiry can follow the operator’s response.
• Read this alongside the current Senior Traffic Commissioner statutory documents and take legal advice where representation is needed.