Transport for Wales Board Meeting Minutes - 16 February 2023

16 February 2023

09:30 - 17:00

Venue - Llys Cadwyn

 

Scott Waddington (Chair), Alun Bowen, Heather Clash, Nicola Kemmery, Vernon Everitt, Alison Noon-Jones, Sarah Howells and James Price.

In attendance: Jeremy Morgan; and Leyton Powell (item 2).

 

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

1a. Apologies for Absence

Natalie Feely (items 1 to 3).

 

1b. Notice of Quorum

A quorum being present, the Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and declared the meeting open.

 

1c. Declarations of Interest

None.

 

1d. Minutes and Actions of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the TfW Board meeting 19 January 2023 were approved as a true and accurate record.

 

1e. Safety Moment

The Board were informed that Siemens plc has pleaded guilty to a criminal safety breach, fined £1.4m and ordered to pay costs of over £99,000 after a worker was crushed to death by a train motor. A self-employed technician was killed in June 2017 when the 650kg traction motor he was preparing for removal from an electric locomotive fell on him at the company’s Train Care Facility in west London. An Office of Rail and Road (ORR) investigation revealed defects in task planning, which included a failure to carry out an appropriate task specific risk assessment and a lack of clear allocation of responsibility for supervision of the task.

 

1f. Customer moment

The Board were reminded of the need to ensure that customer processes and systems work properly. If they do not, customers may switch to alternative providers.

 

2. Safety performance

Leyton Powell joined the meeting.

Overall, performance was better than expected over the last rail period and calendar month. Staff physical assaults decreased to four in the last rail period with one resulting in physical harm. This was the best performance since rail period 13 in 2021/22.

Work has been initiated with RSSB to complete an independent review on customer accidents that fall within TfW infrastructure and operations and to consider opportunities for trend analysis, causation and mitigation to provide assurance that TfW is meeting its duties in terms of customer safety, and giving assurance or raising opportunities to improve.

A new integrated safety management system has been approved and will support several objectives including one single source of information for health and safety across the organisation; supporting the development and achievement of the Rail Safety Authorisation application; and simplifying the close calls incident, reporting, investigation, audit and inspection process.

The workforce fatality weighted index decreased in the period with the moving annual average remaining lower than predicted. Four physical assaults were reported which was below the prediction of seven. The TfW non-workforce fatality weighted index decreased in the period to 0.06, below the predicted figure of 0.10 for the first time since the middle of last year. There were 10 non-workforce injuries reported with two events resulting in people being taken to hospital. Both incidents were related to falls. There were eight non-hospital incidents with six due to customer slips, trips or falls within the station environment or boarding/alighting trains. There were no SPaDs in the period.

The year-to-date SPaDs figure is two below the year-to-date target of 20.

111 safety inspections were undertaken across the network for the 10 different safe systems of work. 39 items were ‘flagged’ for further review.

A tabletop emergency exercise was recently carried out based on a national power outage scenario. The exercise helped refine planning and the production of a playbook and emergency action card to supplement the framework document. Plans were initially rail specific but will now be broadened to include all TfW’s operations.

The Resilience team attended a knowledge exchange forum following the release of Volume II of the Manchester inquiry report. An internal review is in progress with a view to including findings and risks into operational events management.

The Board were informed that theft on the CVL continues to be an issue with the most recent incident resulting in 700 meters of OLE cable slackening in an attempted theft.

Leyton Powell left the meeting. 

 

3. Strategic update

3a. CEO report

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The Board discussed potential strategies for enhancing TfW's relationship with local government following a recent constructive meeting with the leader of the Welsh Local Government Association.

The Board were also informed that TfW is closer to accepting a crucial role at the heart of bus network design and service management. The Board noted the challenges ahead which will require a more integrated view of the different aspects that make up bus activity across TfW.

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The Board discussed the Pay-As-You-Go project and the need for it to be prioritised, multi-modal, have clear aims and objectives, and a raised profile. The Board requested an update in the next few months [Action Heather Clash].

The Board were also updated on:

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• Revenue protection - the Board were asked to report when they experience guards not checking tickets.
• Cardiff crossrail - the remit still needs to be finalised.
• Project Zero, which is aimed at reducing complaints backlog.
• Trunk road discussions with the Welsh Government continue.

 

3b. Finance and governance

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The Board were informed that the 2023/24 business plan is with the Welsh Government for comment. Milestones have been mapped with a reduced number from last year. These will be linked to personal objectives.

The Board were also updated on:

• Development of Pullman Rail Ltd’s budget.
• 2023-24 budget discussions with the Welsh Government.
• Trade Union executives rejected the proposal by the RDG around the 2019 pension valuation citing that the returns and coverage have improved since the exercise was carried out. It is unlikely that resolution will be achieved in time to implement changes for July 2023 and potentially could be deferred to July 2024.

The Board noted the January 2023 management accounts.

 

4. Sub-committees

The recent meeting of the Major Projects Committee had useful discussion on CVL progress, Cardiff Central Enhancements, Ebbw Vale and 20mph zones.

 

5. Subsidiary Boards

The recent TfW Rail Ltd board met and discussed planning for future, current performance, performance targets for 2023-24, timetable uplifts, safety, school fares, and Wrexham-Bidston fares proposals.

 

6. Chair’s Meeting with Deputy Minster

The Chair updated the Board on a recent meeting with the Deputy Minister. Subjects discussed included the North Wales Metro, procurement, local authority engagement, rail performance and communication, the 2023-24 Business Plan, CVL, roads, bus, and TfW apps.

 

7. Supervisory Board

The Board were updated on the recent meeting of the TfW Steering Board. A significant amount of time was spent scrutinising TfW’s risk register. The Steering Board also discussed TfW’s budget for 2023/24, other finance issues, bus, TfW’s CEO report, articles of association, Bow St land, and KPIs.

 

8. Advisory Panel

The recent Advisory Panel discussed Rail replacement services, rail performance, a refresh of the panel’s work plan TfW’s Business Plan and rural transport.

 

Lewis Brencher, Lowri Joyce and Dan Tipper joined the meeting.

 

9. 90-day Welsh Language plan

The Board were introduced to TfW’s 90-day Welsh Language plan which is currently being updated to transition into a wider strategy. The Board were reminded of TfW’s responsibilities under the Welsh Language Act. As well as ensuring compliance with the Act, the plan/strategy focusses on enabling people to be confident when the Welsh Language is used. The strategy will cover working with stakeholders, building links with communities, language choices not being an after-thought, and developing and delivering unique plans to reach out and engage with key stakeholders.

An implementation plan is also being developed which will include case studies to identify successes, lessons learned, periodic reporting to key stakeholders and research and behavioural change opportunities.

The Board were informed that the key areas of concern centre around announcements and legacy issues. The Board welcomed the update.

 

10. CVL update

The previous month has been challenging on several fronts mainly through the identification of issues unearthed during a deep dive. However, the deep-dive session was well received by all parties involved and was informative in teasing out some fundamental issues and challenges around the overall programme, particularly around design and the identification of hazards. TfW mobilised a recovery programme with significant progress made to date.

The Board were also updated on Taff’s Well Deport progress; construction and commissioning of the ICC; and the OLE programme.

The Board welcomed the progress made and thanked the team for the level of control and leadership.

 

11. Risk register

The Board noted the risk register. A risk management gap analysis at Pullman Rail was completed with findings and recommendations shared for review, and to agree actions, timescales, and owners. As part of promoting a ‘risk aware’ culture across the organisation, training resources and a training plan are in development. The training will include both introductory training and more advanced training for risk owners.

Feedback was provided from the most recent Steering Board meeting. The Steering Board requested better signposting on which risks have improved and which have worsened.

 

12. Active travel

The Board were updated on the Active Travel Fund. Expenditure to date is significantly lower than projected with a risk of potential underspend. Projected expenditure at end of quarter three was £20.9m against actual expenditure at end of quarter three of £14.6m. The Board were informed that there was a similar level of percentage underspend by local authorities in 2021-22 which would lead to an underspend of approximately £7m. Options have been developed for alternative use of funding totalling £8.5m should the final underspend exceed the potential £7m indicated. A paper with alternative expenditure proposals was submitted to the Welsh Government for consideration on 3 February with a decision awaited.

The Board were informed that Audit Wales is scoping a piece of work on Active Travel.

 

13. Budget

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The Board requested a statement be drafted for the Welsh Government regarding the funding range based upon the reality that rail revenue will be reflected as a range and the risks associated with it [Action Heather Clash].

 

14. Confidential session

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The Chair brought meeting to an end and thanked everyone for their input.