Paragraph 13(2a) of Schedule 3 of the 1995 Act and Article 8(8) of Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 requires that professional competence to be demonstrated by production of a certificate which:
- Meets the security features and the model certificate annexed to the EU Regulations
- Bears the seal of the duly authorised authority or body which issued it.
Under Article 8(2), the examination must be sat in the Member State in which the holder has their normal residence or, the Member State in which they work. The Senior Traffic Commissioner’s Statutory Guidance advises that TCs are ‘unlikely to be able to accept a qualification in another Member State where they do not normally reside or work’.
This appears to confirm that it would be unacceptable for a someone living and working in the UK to travel abroad simply to obtain the Transport Manager qualification, and then return to try and work in the UK.
This situation has cropped up with some regularity over the last 12 months, whereby individuals, living and working in the UK, have travelled abroad, often to their country of origin, to obtain a Transport Manager qualification there.
The motivation for this is often simply the desire to sit a complicated exam in their native language. Unfortunately, that qualification has been of no use to them when they returned to the UK and instead, they have had to obtain the qualification again in the UK.
A recently publicised example of this was the case of Quick Road Transport, where TC Rooney found that the Transport Manager’s qualification had been taken in Poland and was not valid in the UK.
However, if a foreign national has obtained their qualification abroad, in the country they resided at the time, and before moving to the UK, then it would appear from the wording of the legislation that it should be acceptable to the UK authorities.
Contact Jared Dunbar for guidance on complying with Transport Law matters or preparing for Public Inquiries.