Decision for Paramount Scaffolding Ltd (OK1122000)
Written decision of the Deputy Traffic Commissioner in the South East and Metropolitan area for Paramount Scaffolding Ltd
IN THE LONDON & SOUTH EAST OF ENGLAND TRAFFIC AREA
OPERATOR PARAMOUNT SCAFFOLDING LTD LICENCE: OK1122000
DECISION OF THE DEPUTY TRAFFIC COMMISSIONER
Public Inquiry in Eastbourne on 15 September 2026
Decision
Restricted licence OK1122000 held by Paramount Scaffolding Ltd is suspended for five weeks, with effect from 0015 hours on Saturday 24 October until 0015 hours on Saturday 28 November 2026. The suspension is pursuant to Section 26(1)(f) of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) Act 1995 (“the 1995 Act”).
Under Section 26(6) of the 1995 Act I direct that the company’s vehicles may not be used under any other operator’s licence during the period of suspension.
Further, the licence is curtailed with immediate effect and for an indefinite period of time from five vehicles to three vehicles. The curtailment is pursuant to Section 26(1)(h) of the 1995 Act.
Reasons for regulatory action
The reasons for the suspension and curtailment are as follows:
-
The operator was found by DVSA to have been operating two vehicles out of tax; one two months after its tax had expired and the other 12 months afterwards. Even after this had been reported, the operator was found operating a third vehicle out of tax a few months later. The operator has lamentably failed to fulfil its undertaking to ensure the lawful operation of vehicles.
-
The operator was failing to ensure that its driver/scaffolders were recording their scaffolding work as “other work” on their tachograph cards. It was keeping no record of working time. There was some missing mileage (driving without a card) which the operator has failed to provide a reasonable explanation for. (Invoices to support the company’s claim that some missing mileage was accounted for by the maintenance provider attending the vehicle were presented after the inquiry, but because no evidence of payment could be provided, I attached no value to the evidence).
-
Safety inspection sheets were reporting numerous driver detectable defects, defects which should have been identified by drivers and rectified on a daily basis, not await the next 12-week safety inspection.
-
The operator failed to notify the conviction of the sole director of an offence of uninsured driving in April 2025.
-
The operator claimed in its response to DVSA that it was now checking driving entitlement every month. The evidence produced at the inquiry showed that this was simply untrue: checks were happening only every four months.
-
The operator previously attended a public inquiry in October 2022, when similar shortcomings in drivers’ hours oversight and driver defect reporting were discussed. The operator was issued with a formal warning on that occasion, and the decision letter specifically warned that “the operator must ensure that the recent improvements in systems and record-keeping it has introduced are maintained and sustained for the rest of the life of the licence, and that it does not fall back into complacency.” Sadly, this is precisely what has happened. The fitness of the company to hold an operator’s licence is therefore in considerable doubt.
The company at last seems to have realised the seriousness of its position and has (belatedly) appointed a transport consultant to assist it with compliance. The influence of this consultant can be seen in a recent improvement in records and drivers’ hours oversight.
I deliberated long and hard over whether to revoke the company’s licence and disqualify director Luke Jessup from holding one in future. In the end, I decided to give the company one final chance, with emphasis on the word final. However, its conduct falls squarely within the “severe to serious” range as defined in the Senior Traffic Commissioner’s Statutory Guidance Document No. 10 – “persistent operator licence failures with inadequate response or previous public inquiry history”. I am thus taking regulatory action which reflects the seriousness of the case, even if it stops short of revocation.
I am therefore suspending the licence for the period of five weeks, with effect from 0015 hours on 24 October 2026. This gives the operator a period of time in which to make alternative arrangements (e.g. by outsourcing transport if it can). I am also curtailing the licence to its present level of three vehicles. I will want to be satisfied that the company is capable of operating compliantly its current number of vehicles for a period of at least six months before being prepared to look favourably on any request under Section 26(8) that the curtailment be amended or cancelled. To that end, the operator will need to arrange for an independent audit to be carried out some time in May 2027.
Undertakings
The following undertakings have been agreed and will be added to the licence:
- The operator undertakes to identify an independent body to carry out an audit of transport safety and compliance systems. The audit will assess the systems for complying with maintenance and drivers hours requirements, and the effectiveness with which those systems are implemented. The audit should cover at least the applicable elements detailed in the guidance on Operator Compliance Audits available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/operator-compliance-audits
A copy of the report together with the operator’s detailed proposals for implementing the report’s recommendations is to be uploaded to the licence record via the Vehicle Operator Licensing self-service account, or, if the operator does not have a self-service account, emailed to notifications@vehicle-operator-licensing.service.gov.uk by 31 May 2027.
- The operator will contract with a transport consultant holding the transport manager CPC qualification for road haulage for the provision of advice on and assistance with compliance for the equivalent of at least four hours per week for at least the next 12 months.
Other action required
By close of business on 2 December 2026 the operator or its transport consultant will send to OTC Eastbourne reports from the vehicle tachograph units of the three currently specified vehicles, showing the odometer readings on 24 October and 28 November 2026. The vehicles may only move for MOT or other maintenance purposes.
Nicholas Denton
Deputy Traffic Commissioner
30 September 2026