# Transport Act 2000, Section 123Q: Application for service permit


(1) An application for a service permit authorising a person to provide a particular local service in an area to which a franchising scheme relates must be made in such manner as the authority or authorities operating the scheme may determine.
(2) An application must be accompanied by such information as the authority or authorities operating the scheme may specify.
(3) If the authority or authorities so require, an application for a service permit must be accompanied by a fee for processing the application of an amount that is determined in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State.
(4) Regulations under subsection (3) may specify the maximum amount of the fee.
(5) The authority or authorities must grant the service permit applied for if they are satisfied that—
(a) the proposed service will benefit persons making journeys on local services which have one or more stopping places in the area to which the scheme relates, and
(b) the proposed service will not have an adverse effect on any local service that is provided under a local service contract in the area to which the scheme relates.
(5A) If the application is for a service permit for a cross-boundary service, the authority or authorities may grant the permit applied for if they are satisfied that—
(a) the benefits to persons making journeys on the proposed service will outweigh any adverse effect on any local service that is provided under a local service contract in the area to which the scheme relates, or
(b) the benefits of the proposed service to the economy of the relevant area, or to persons living in that area, will outweigh any such adverse effect.
(5B) If the application is for a service permit for a service that is not a cross-boundary service, the authority or authorities may grant the permit applied for if they are satisfied that the benefits of the proposed service to the economy of the area to which the scheme relates, or to persons living in that area, will outweigh any adverse effect on any local service that is provided under a local service contract in that area.
(6) The authority or authorities may not grant the service permit applied for except under subsection (5), (5A) or (5B).
(7) If the authority or authorities do not grant a service permit, they must give notice of their reasons to the applicant within a period of ten days beginning with the date on which they decide not to grant the service permit.
(8) In this section—
“cross-boundary service”, in relation to a franchising scheme, means a service that—
(a)has one or more stopping places in the area to which the scheme relates, and
(b)has one or more stopping places outside that area;
“relevant area”, in relation to a cross-boundary service, means the combined area of each—
(a)local transport authority,
(b)council in Scotland, and
(c)Transport Partnership created under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005,
in which the service has a stopping place.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/38/section/123Q (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/transport-act-2000/section-123Q
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.