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New deputy Traffic Commissioners appointed for West Midland and Wales and Eastern traffic areas
Six new deputy traffic commissioners have been appointed to take up posts in the West Midland and Wales and Eastern Traffic Area Offices.
The six new deputies are Jim Astle, Miles Dorrington, Simon Evans and Tony Seculer, who will be based in the West Midlands and Wales, and Marcia Davis and Gillian Ekins who will be based in the East - biographies of the six are given below.
Making the announcement Senior Traffic Commissioner Philip Brown said:
"I am delighted that we are able to strengthen our team with appointment of these six new deputies.
"Each of them bring specialist legal knowledge to their new role and individual skills which will help to underpin the excellent work already being carried out in these two important Traffic Areas.
"All Traffic Commissioners and their Deputies are looking to improve standards in the coach and haulage industries and we will continue to pursue this work as vigorously as we can."
Biographies of the new Deputy Traffic Commissioners
Based in West Midland and Welsh Traffic Area Office
Jim
Astle, a Solicitor, is a partner in an Oxford firm. Jim has
specialised in criminal litigation and he currently sits as a
Deputy District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) in the Birmingham
area. He will be assigned to the West Midland and Welsh Traffic Areas.
Miles Dorrington has been assigned to the Birmingham OTC to sit in the Wales and West Midlands Traffic Areas. A Barrister and Solicitor, Miles has appeared as an advocate at Public Inquiries having been in charge of the road transport regulatory team for a large Solicitors' practice in Bristol for several years. He intends to return to the Bar to do regulatory work, which he will combine with his role as a Deputy Traffic Commissioner.
Having spent 10 years as Justices' Clerk for Furness and East Cumbria, Solicitor Simon Evans was latterly Area Director in HM Courts Service in Cumbria. He has a judicial role as an independent member of the Parole Board for England and Wales. Although assigned to the West Midland and Welsh Traffic Areas, Simon will also be available to sit in the North West Traffic Area if required.
As Justices' Clerk for Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan, Tony Seculer, also a Barrister, is the only Welsh based Deputy Traffic Commissioner who is resident in the principality. He is Chair of the Justices' Clerks Society's Road Traffic Network and as a legal advisor he works closely with the Parliamentary Advisory Committee on Transport Safety. As from 1 June Tony will be leaving HMCS and starting part-time employment as Secretary to the South Wales Probation Trust Board. Apart from sitting in Wales, Tony will assist in the West Midland Traffic Area.
Based at Eastern Traffic Area Office
Marcia Davis, a
Barrister, is Deputy Clerk to the Justices at Milton Keynes
Magistrates' Court. She is also an independent panel member
of the police misconduct panels and a member of the Council of
Inns of Court Disciplinary Tribunal Panel. Marcia, who hails
from Canada, has run seminars on operator licensing whilst in the
Magistrates' Courts Service and has edited publications
dealing with road traffic law. She will be assigned to the OTC in Cambridge.
Solicitor Gillian Ekins was previously a partner in private practice, but now works as a consultant. She sits as a Parking Adjudicator and a Road User Charging Adjudicator. Gillian is also a member of the Independent Scrutiny Panel for UK Sport as the National Anti Doping Organisation. She will be working from the OTC in Cambridge.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. There are seven Traffic Commissioners, each supported by a number of deputies, covering eight traffic areas. .
2. The Traffic Commissioners are statutorily independent Licensing Authorities responsible for bus, coach and goods vehicle operators and for local bus service registrations. They can also take disciplinary action against the licence of bus, coach and lorry drivers who commit road and certain other offences.
3. Prohibition notices can be issued by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) following an inspection and can prevent a vehicle from being driven until it is roadworthy.
4. Traffic Commissioners have the power to revoke, suspend or curtail a company's licence to operate buses, coaches and lorries if they are satisfied that a company is failing to ensure that its vehicles are maintained in a fit and serviceable condition when being operated on public roads. They can also take such action if they are satisfied that a company has failed to honour certain Statements of Intent made when they applied for their operator's licence (i.e. that vehicles would be kept fit and serviceable and that the laws relating to the driving and operation of vehicles used under the licence would be observed).
5. Action can also be taken against PSV operators who fail to operate local bus services properly or in contravention of the registered particulars. Traffic Commissioners have the power to cancel or restrict local services an operator may run, or impose a fine if services have not been operated, or operated improperly, to a significant extent.
ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE SENIOR TRAFFIC COMMISSIONER BY
COI
NEWS AND PR NORTH EAST
