31.Section 12 provides the Welsh Ministers with a power to grant a permit to an operator authorising that operator to provide a particular local bus service. That power may be exercised to fulfil the Welsh Ministers’ duty under section 5(1)(c), or where an operator wants to provide a local bus service that the Welsh Ministers are not required to secure under section 5(1)(c) (for instance, because it is not specified in the Plan). (In these circumstances, a permit would be needed in order to avoid the operator falling foul of the section 23 restriction on providing local bus services, discussed below.) A permit can only be granted by the Welsh Ministers in respect of a service where the service would not have a material adverse impact on services provided under a local bus service contract or by the Welsh Ministers under section 18, or be inconsistent with the Welsh Transport Strategy. (This restriction ensures that, where an operator is granted a permit to operate a service in respect of which the duty to secure services does not apply, that service will not have an adverse effect on those services that are secured by the Welsh Ministers under the duty to secure services.) Permits can only be awarded to operators who hold a PSV operator’s licence or a community bus permit. It is envisaged that, in the first instance, Transport for Wales will administer the permitting system on behalf of the Welsh Ministers.
32.Section 13 requires a permit to specify the period for which it has effect and explains when a permit ceases to have effect.
33.Section 14 makes further provision about the conditions that may be attached to permits and specifies that where a permit is granted in respect of a community bus service, the permit must require the service to be provided as a community bus service and each vehicle used in providing the service to be used under, and in accordance with, a community bus permit. Section 14 also provides the Welsh Ministers with a power to make regulations specifying further mandatory conditions that must be included in permits. Examples of the possible subject matter of required conditions are given in the section, although no duty to make provision of this type is imposed, and the list of examples is not exhaustive.
34.Under section 14, the Welsh Ministers can remove a condition attached to a permit by giving notice to this effect to the permit holder. The section also provides that they can vary a permit by attaching a new condition to it, or by revising an existing condition. But this second type of change will need to be made either with the permit holder’s consent, or as the result of provision made in regulations under section 14(2). So, for instance if regulations made under section 14(2) specify a mandatory condition to be included in all permits, and that condition is not already attached to a permit that was granted before the regulations were made, the Welsh Ministers can attach that condition to the permit without needing to obtain the permit holder’s consent.
35.Section 16 makes provision relating to the revocation and suspension of permits. Under subsection (1), the Welsh Ministers may revoke or suspend a permit if any of the grounds in subsection (3) are satisfied. This is effected by giving notice to the permit holder. Under subsection (2), the notice must specify the grounds on which the permit is revoked or suspended, the date when the revocation or suspension takes effect, and (in the case of suspension only) the period of suspension and the conditions to be met before the end of the suspension period.
36.Under subsection (4), the revocation or suspension can take effect on the date the notice is given, or on a future date specified in the notice (though this is subject to any provision made by regulations under section 16(5)). This gives flexibility to reflect the severity and impact of the identified grounds for revoking or suspending the permit.
37.Regulations under section 16(5) may modify the grounds upon which a permit may be revoked or suspended (including by removing existing grounds or adding new ones). They may also make provision about when the revocation or suspension of a permit takes effect.
38.Section 17 enables applicants to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal against:
	Refusal to grant a permit,
	Conditions attached to a permit, including a revision of a condition (but not against a condition attached under section 14(1)),
	Revocation of a permit,
	Suspension of a permit, the length of the suspension, or the conditions that are required to be complied with during the period of the suspension.
39.The First-tier Tribunal may, under section 17(6), uphold the decision which is the subject of the appeal, quash it, or substitute another decision for it.
Commentary on Sections Local bus service permits