The Local Services Franchises (Traffic Commissioner Notices and Panels) (Scotland) Regulations 2024

These Regulations support the Scottish local bus franchising process. They deal with the notices issued by the traffic commissioner and the panels convened to consider whether a proposal should be approved when a local transport authority wants to make, vary or revoke a franchising framework.

For most businesses, the practical point is that this instrument is about process rather than day to day operating rules. It tells you how proposals are publicised, how evidence can be put forward, who may sit on the panel, what the panel can consider and the broad timetable for a decision.

The businesses most likely to be affected are operators of local services in the relevant Scottish area. If a franchising framework is proposed, varied or revoked, your routes, commercial position and future bidding strategy may be affected even before any franchise contracts are awarded.

Local transport authorities also need to follow this process because the panel will assess the proposal and the authority may need to present evidence. Trade associations, consultants and other stakeholders may also want to make representations, but they should not assume they will automatically get an oral hearing unless they fall within the categories that trigger a mandatory oral evidence session.

When the traffic commissioner gives notice that a local transport authority is seeking approval for a proposal, the notice must include key information. That includes the authority’s name, a description of the proposal, links to the relevant documents, and an explanation that a panel will be formed and that people may ask to present oral evidence.

The notice must also explain that any request to present oral evidence must be made in writing within 28 days beginning with the day after the notice is issued, and must include a summary of the oral evidence. Representations on the application must also be made within 28 days beginning with the day after the notice is given. For a small operator, that means the clock starts quickly and there is little room for delay.

The Regulations create a structured route for oral evidence. If you want to give oral evidence, you must send a written request to the traffic commissioner within the 28 day period and include a written summary of what you want to say. The traffic commissioner must then provide those requests to the panel.

The panel must hold an oral evidence session where the request comes from an operator of a local service in the relevant area, the local transport authority seeking approval, or a person who was not consulted but who, in the panel’s opinion, ought to have been consulted. For others, the panel has discretion. If there are multiple requests, the panel may hold one or more sessions. The panel may also invite evidence itself and can specify the issues it wants covered and how evidence should be given.

The traffic commissioner appoints panel members and must choose one of them to chair the panel. Members must have knowledge or experience relevant to the panel’s functions, but some people are not eligible, including certain politicians, certain council members, some traffic commissioner staff involved with panel management, employees of operators likely to be affected by the proposal, and anyone whose appointment could reasonably raise concerns about impartiality.

At an oral evidence session, the panel controls procedure. It may decide how oral evidence is presented, impose time limits, exclude people where confidential or commercially sensitive information is likely to be disclosed, direct one party to present evidence on behalf of several parties on a particular issue, and decline to hear evidence or submissions that could have been made earlier in response to the authority’s consultation.

Sessions must be public unless an exclusion is made for confidentiality or commercial sensitivity.

The Regulations prescribe matters for the purposes of the approval process. In broad terms, the panel will look at how, and to what extent, the proposed franchising framework contributes to the local transport authority’s relevant general policies. It will also consider deliverability, sustainability and affordability.

The panel will also look at the likely effect on the authority’s existing bus network, neighbouring authorities’ bus networks, and the local economy and community. The Regulations specifically mention possible community benefits such as improved access to employment, healthcare and education opportunities. For operators, this means evidence should be practical and tied to these themes.

A submission that only says a proposal is bad for business may carry less weight than one that explains route impacts, network consequences, affordability concerns or knock-on effects for passengers and neighbouring areas.

A panel must notify the traffic commissioner of its decision within six months beginning with the date the panel is convened, unless it issues a notice before that period ends explaining that it does not intend to decide within that time, why that is so, and the likely decision date. If that happens, the panel must notify its decision within twelve months from the date it was convened.

In exceptional circumstances, the traffic commissioner may extend that twelve month period if the panel gives a further notice explaining why more time is needed and indicating the likely decision date. For businesses, this means the process can run for a significant period. You should plan for a live regulatory process rather than a quick answer, keep records of what you submitted, and monitor whether hearing dates, newspaper notices and further evidence requests affect your commercial planning.