12. (1) The licensing authority may, at any time, revoke a licence if it is satisfied that the holder of the licence is no longer a suitable person to hold a licence.

(2) In determining whether to revoke a licence the licensing authority shall have regard to—

(a) whether the holder of the licence has contravened any obligations applicable to him or her as licence holder (whether or not the licence holder has been convicted of an offence in relation to the contravention), including the provisions of this Act, any regulations made thereunder, the terms or conditions of the licence or any code of practice in force at the relevant time,

(b) the nature, extent, seriousness and duration of any such contraventions,

(c) the repeated occurrence of any such contraventions,

(d) whether the holder of the licence has—

(i) failed or refused to provide information required by this Act, regulations under this Act, F12[or the terms] or conditions of the licence, or

(ii) supplied information that was false or misleading in a material particular and which he or she should reasonably have known to be such,

(e) whether the holder of the licence has been convicted of any offences,

(f) the need to ensure the safety and welfare of passengers in small public service vehicles and other road users,

(g) any conduct by the licence holder, and where the holder is a company the conduct of any person referred to in section 10(2)(e), which calls into question the holder’s suitability to hold the licence,

(h) any representations received from the licence holder, and

(i) any other matter considered by the licensing authority to be relevant to the licence holder’s suitability to hold a licence.

F13[(3) Where the licensing authority in determining whether to revoke a licence under this section is satisfied that the holder of the licence—

(a) has contravened the obligations applicable to such licence holder (whether or not the holder has been convicted of an offence in relation to the contravention), including the provisions of this Act, any regulations made thereunder or the terms or conditions of the licence, or

(b) has—

(i) failed or refused to provide information required by this Act, regulations under this Act or the terms or conditions of the licence, or

(ii) supplied information that was false or misleading in a material particular which he or she knew or ought reasonably to have known to be so,

but decides not to revoke the licence, it may, if it is satisfied it is appropriate to do so—

(i) suspend the licence for a period not exceeding 3 months, or

(ii) issue by notice to the holder of the licence a reprimand, warning, caution or advice,]

(4) Where a licence is suspended under subsection (3) it ceases to have effect during the period of suspension. Any period of suspension shall not be construed as to extend the period of operation of the licence.