Clause 63 (Hansard, 29 May 1968)

§ The Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport (Mr. Neil Carmichael)

I beg to move Amendment No. 237, in page 87, line 24, leave out from beginning to 'pending' in line 26 and insert: (5) If an applicant for an operator's licence so requests, a licensing authority may, if the applicant does not hold an operator's licence granted by that authority, grant to him. The Amendment extends a discretion of the licensing authority under Clause 63(5) to grant an interim operator's licence to an applicant to cover the case 1734 in which the applicant already has a licence in one traffic area but must apply for a new one to the authority for a different area, for instance, because he has removed his operating centre into that area or has opened a new centre there. The Bill at the moment allows discretion to make an interim grant only where an applicant does not have an operator's licence, that is, he is a com plete newcomer. It would be unfair not to allow the same privilege to an operator already established in another area. The licensing authority may feel, indeed, more confident in making such a grant to an applicant who had already proved himself reasonable and competent. No further changes are proposed.