owers and duties of TA Executives
Page 33
Page 34
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
With the establishment of the first four .enger Transport Authorities on April 1 only four days away, this is an opportime to discuss the powers and duties will be invested in the new Executives e set-up under the provisions of Part II le Transport Act 1968. The Designation :rs which created the new Passenger isport Areas for Merseyside, SELNEC, :side and the West Midlands on Febru10, and the procedures laid down in i for establishing the Authorities resible for future public transport in those s, were described in CM, February 28. irt 8 of Transport Act in action (CM 14) outlined the way the Authorities function, described their responsibility tppointing Passenger Transport Execuand revealed that these Executives are e regarded as local authorities. Repitation on the Authorities of constituent cils at present operating their own .cipal bus systems was also discussed.
le general powers of the new Execuare described in Section 10 (1) of the and are very far reaching, paragraph unning to 32 sub-paragraphs. Some of are similar to those granted to the )nal Bus Company and the Scottish sport Group under sections 25 and 26 e Act, while others can be described as mtious.
me of the powers under Section 10 (1) h are unlikely to create opposition, from the obvious one under sub;raph (i) which enables a PTE to carry :ngers by road within, to or from a mger Transport Area, include powers ovide, where people using the services racilities of an Executive are likely to re them, facilities for the purchase and imption of food and drink, places of thment and such other amenities which be required (sub-paragraph (x)); inter;e facilities between one form of transand another (xii); facilities for the ng and education of, and research by ns employed by the Executive (xxiv); sion of houses, hostels and other aciodation for employees (xxv); loans to )yees to assist them to acquire housing nmodation (xxvi); and to establish and 'lister pension schemes for employees Tiler employees (xxx).
t the other side of the coin, possibly ntious powers include that to carry ngers between places outside a Pasr Transport Area (iii); to make pay; to the Railways Board in respect of es provided by the Board for the PTE its Area or up to 25. miles radius from Lrea (vi); to let passenger vehicles on vith or without trailers for the carriage of goods (viii); at any car park provided under sub-paragraph (x) to repair motor vehicles for any persons and to sell motorists petrol, oil and spare parts and accessories (xi); to construct, manufacture, produce, purchase, maintain and repair anything required for the purposes of the Executive's business (dv); to acquire by agreement any undertaking or part of an undertaking if its assets are wholly or mainly required by the Executive for the purposes of its business (xvii); and last, but by no means least, Executives may "do all other things which in their opinion are necessary to facilitate the proper carrying on of their business" (xxxii).
Some of the above powers speak for themselves and might possibly lead to unbridled competition with existing providers of such services. Others are so worded that they might be interpreted in a manner of ways to suit the occasion.
A section of Part II of the Act which goes against the repeated advice of leading experienced busmen is Section 13 which gives power for Authorities to issue precepts to constituent councils for the levying of rates to meet any deficits. Section 18 (4) of each designation Order relates that Section 12 (4) to (9) of the General Rate Act of 1967 shall apply to the Authority. However, Section 13 (4) of the Transport Act gives the Minister power to restrict the aggregate amount for which an Authority might issue precepts.
Other sections which give rise to concern include 10 (1) (xix) which empowers an Executive to form, promote and assist, or join with any other person in forming a company which can carry on any of the activities which the Executive has powers to carry on, and any part of the undertaking or property of the Executive can be transferred to this subsidiary company.
Under Section 12, which relates to borrowing powers of the Executive, paragraph (3) (c) enables an Executive to borrow money to acquire an undertaking or part of an undertaking. Section 19 (3) states that, notwithstanding anything in Part III of the Transport Act 1960, no road service licence is required for any bus service operated entirely within a Passenger Transport Area and no conditions are to be attached to that part of a service inside such an Area which operates from outside that Area.
This latter provision puts PTEs on a similar footing to London Transport. It also means that a licence with respect to any part of a bus service operating inside a designated Area ceases to be valid from the day the Executive is established. The Execu Live, in fact, replaces the Traffic Commissioners in being the body which determines routes and services inside a PTA.
However, Section 21 (5) (a) gives the Minister the right to introduce regulations including one to make it necessary for an Executive to furnish the appropriate Traffic Commissioners with information regarding all the road passenger services it or any subsidiary operates inside a designated Area.
Duties of an Executive Although wide powers apply to the Executives under the Transport Act 1968, a number of duties are also built in the Act as an intended safeguard. Section 14 (1) (a) requires the Executive to cause proper accounts and other records in relation to its business to be kept while sub-section (b) instructs it to prepare ap annual statement of accounts in such a way as the Minister may from time to time direct; such statements must be included in published annual reports.
Section 11 (1) makes it clear that the duty of an Executive is to perform its functions in such a way that the cumulative net balance of the Executive and any subsidiaries does not show a deficit at the end of any accounting period. Paragraph (4) provides for the Executive to submit to the Minister from time to time and in a manner requested by the Minister a statement approved by the Authority of proposals for expenditure on capital account; the Minister may give notice in writing to the Executive of a limit imposed on such expenditure.
The position of all staff transferred from existing municipal undertakings to the Executive is covered by Section 17 (1) (d) and (e), which protects their interests, including their superannuation rights.
Section 18 (1) states that within 12 months from the inception of the Authorities they and the Executives shall jointly prepare a statement setting out in general terms the policies they intend to follow. This statement must include the organization and any proposals for the further development of the Executive's own undertaking, the nature of any agreements made with the National Bus Company for the provision of services within, to and from its Area and the financial position and prospects of the Executive. (The Minister may extend this period if necessary.) Not later than two years (or such longer period as the Minister may allow) from the establishment of the Executive it must publish a plan approved by the Authority describing proposals for the future development of the passenger transport system in the Area.
Both the above plans must be published in the London Gazette and in one or more newspapers circulating in the Passenger Transport Area. The former plan must describe the machinery established for co-ordination of services within each Area, together with the plans and policies of constituent councils with respect to traffic regulation or parking. The Executives must also review as soon as possible and keep under review railway passenger services provided by the Railways Board for passengers travelling inside each Area or to points not more than 25 miles beyond the Area.
Schedule 6 of the Act explains the right of Executives to grant consents to existing operators if such operators apply within the prescribed period (as yet unspecified) to continue operating existing services which come inside or partly inside the newly designated Areas. Such services must retain such conditions (and no others) which applied at the time the Executive assumed responsibilities for services inside the PTA.
The Executive is also required to "not unreasonably refuse any application by an existing operator for the variation of a condition attached to a consent granted under this Schedule". It may also, at any time, by notice in writing ask any operator providing a service under consent to make "any reasonable variation of any such condition".
Schedule 6. paragraph 7 makes it very clear that any operator providing a service under consent must keep a clean bill of health or else the consent may be revoked by the Executive. Paragraph 10 also gives the Executive power to revoke at any time a consent to an operator by notice in writing of not less than nine months. Operators have a right to appeal to the Traffic Commissioners if any consent is withdrawn and retain the power to keep the service running until such an appeal is resolved.
If the withdrawal of a consent leaves an operator (such as an independent) with a non-viable business, the operator is entitled to compensation; he is also allowed to serve notice in writing on the Executive to take over his whole business at "market value". Cold crumbs of comfort!