Operational Licensing FAQs

Unfortunately not – CTA are a designated permit issuing body meaning that we can only issue permits to our members. This also means that for your permit to remain valid you need to ensure continuity of your membership with the CTA.  Please be aware that membership of CTA does not guarantee you will be issued with a permit these are considered separately to membership and have additional criteria. 

All permits are in two parts. 

• The A4 paper permit, which should be stored safely in the office 
• The disc, which must be displayed in the windscreen of the vehicle 

For your minibus operation to be legal you must have both parts and the disc must remain readable.  If either part is missing, or if the writing on the disc fades, get in touch with the designated body who issued the permit to apply for a replacement.  You must not overwrite any of the information on a permit disc and you must not display photocopied discs.

The old section 19 small bus permits issued prior to April 2009 did not have an expiry date. Under the Local Transport Act 2008, all these permits expired on 6 April 2014. If you still have one of these old permits, you will need to apply for a replacement.

Section 19 standard permits issued from April 2009 are valid for up to five years and must be renewed before the expiry date shown. Section 10b permits in Northern Ireland do not currently have an expiry date. It is possible that this arrangement may change in the future with the introduction of new legislation. 

Section 10B small bus permits are issued for use in Northern Ireland. These permits cannot be used to provide transport to members of the general public and organisations must ensure that they are only carrying passengers that their organisation is set up to benefit.  

A permit allows an organisation, who owns or leases a minibus with up to 16 passenger seats, to operate the vehicle for ‘hire or reward’. Where can we obtain a permit? The Department of Infrastructure can issue section 10B permits in Northern Ireland to not-for-profit organisations. You can contact them on 028 9054 0540.  As CTA is a designated ‘permit issuing body’, we are able to issue Section 10B permits to our members. If you are not a CTA Member but would like to know more about the CTA and our membership offer please check out our CTA Membership pages. How much do they cost? Section 10B permits cost £11. Section 10B permits issued by CTA are only valid if your organisation has a current membership. Please note if your membership should lapse, your permits will no longer be valid. Do they have an expiry date? No, section 10B permits do not have an expiry date however, operators must ensure that permit discs are legible and that they do not overwrite any information on them.

A section 22 permit, or community bus permit, is issued for use in Great Britain to allow organisations to provide transport for members of the general public through a local registered bus route.  The local registered bus route has to be registered with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner. 

The operator can also request the Traffic Commissioner allows them to also operate ‘other services’; this will allow them to offer other services which are of benefit to the community without requiring an alternative permit. Where can we obtain a section 22 permit? Application forms for section 22 permits can be obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, or you can contact them by telephone on 0300 123 9000. 

There are two forms of section 19 permits, Standard and Large Bus. Section 19 permits are issued for use in Great Britain, and allow not for profit organisations to operate transport services for ‘hire or reward’ under one of the recognised exemptions. These permits cannot be used to provide transport to members of the general public and organisations must ensure that they are only carrying passengers that their organisation is set up to benefit.

If your organisation is operating transport then ‘hire or reward’ probably exists and you will need to obtain a section 19 permit. A standard permit allows organisations to operate a vehicle with up to 16 passenger seats for ‘hire or reward’. In recent years there have been some questions about using section 19 permits on smaller vehicles with less than 9 passenger seats. CTA understand the value of small vehicle permits to the sector, and remain committed to ensuring that they remain available for use by CT operators.   

We continue to seek clarification from the Department for Transport and the Office of the Traffic Commissioner to resolve this query. In the meantime, we will continue to issue permits for smaller vehicles as a designated ‘permit issuing body’ but may be required to shorten the time limits on these permits or suspend small vehicle permits if the legal position is clarified.  

A large bus permit allows an organisation to operate a vehicle with more than 16 passenger seats.  Where can we obtain a section 19 permit? Application forms for section 19 and 22 permits can be obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), or you can contact them by telephone on 0300 123 9000.  

As CTA is a designated ‘permit issuing body’, we are able to issue standard permits to our members. If you are not a CTA Member but would like to know more about the CTA and our membership offer, please check out our CTA Membership pages.  How much do they cost? Section 19 standard permits cost £11.00 and they are valid for five years. Section 19 large bus permits cost £20.00 and are also valid for five years.  Section 19 permits issued by CTA are only valid if your organisation has a current membership. Please note if your membership should lapse, your permits will no longer be valid.  

‘Hire and reward’ is the legal term for payment for providing transport. It’s any payment, in cash or kind, which gives a person the right to be carried on a vehicle, regardless of whether that right is exercised. The payment may be made by the passenger or on the passenger’s behalf.    Fares, subscriptions, donations, grants, payments for another services and money drawn from club funds would all be treated as ‘hire and reward’. This applies even when no profit is made or when transport is only part of a package.   Operators need to be very careful before assuming that their operation is not for ‘hire or reward’.

An operator’s licence allows a person or an organisation to operate passenger carrying vehicles in return for any kind of ‘hire or reward’. You are likely to require an operator’s licence of some type because “hire or reward” will exist in the majority, if not all, transport operations.  

Public Service Vehicle (PSV) Operator Licence (O license) Private or commercial companies that operate transport will need to apply for a PSV operator’s licence, also known as an O license. Where only one or two minibuses are run a restricted operator’s licence may be sufficient. These are issued by the Traffic Commissioner through their Central Office in Leeds and the contact number is 0300 123 9000. 

If your organisation is a not-for-profit organisation you may be eligible to operate passenger transport using section 19, section 22 or section 10B permits and to charge for transport, but at a not-for-profit rate.