Transport for Wales Board Meeting Minutes - 17 October 2024

17 October 2024

09:00 - 16:00

Venue - Lys Cadwyn and Teams

Scott Waddington (Chair), Alun Bowen, Heather Clash, Vernon Everitt, Sarah Howells, Vinay Parmar, Rhian Langham, Alison Noon-Jones, James Price, Peter McDonald and Alan McCarthy.

Jeremy Morgan, Sam Hadley (TfW) and Peter McDonald (Welsh Government).

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Andrew Morgan gave his apologies.

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

None.

The minutes of the TfW Board meeting 19 September 2024 were approved as a true and accurate record. The Actions Log was noted.

The Board discussed a recent Ofcom briefing regarding legislation protecting young people online and their powers to audit organisations.

The Board discussed the importance of safety considerations in planning for bus franchising and the need for good data on how bus services interact with the road network to reduce collisions and accidents. The Board emphasised the need to learn from other bus service operators.

Josh Hopkins joined the meeting.

The Board received and noted an overview of the Health, Safety and Resilience report contained in the pack.

The Board were updated on:

• The installation of a new safety message on the gate line paddles at Chester to promote the use of the wide aisle and reduce the occurrence of customer accidents.
• Support to the on-going bus franchising work including the recent completion of a ‘T Network’ workshop for lithium-ion batteries and collaboration with TfL for future working practices. Opportunities were also explored for collaborative work with TfW rail fleet to share learnings identified through DSEAR assessments.
• Non-workforce accidents and non-workforce assaults have decreased, but workforce accidents have seen an increase which included two RIDDOR reportable incidents. Investigations into these incidents are ongoing.
• Work is on-going with the procurement team and conductors to develop a body worn camera strategy. The Board were informed of a slow and low initial take up of with usage around 20%. This has increased from around 9% last year with conductors starting to see benefits. The Board requested figures from other organisations where use of body-worn cameras is not mandated [Action Josh Hopkins]. A discussion took place on the reasons for the cameras not being used and mitigating action being taken to address them.
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• A recent trespass incident which resulted in an individual losing a foot. The Board discussed actions being taken to warn against trespassing and care for train crew dealing with incidents. It was agreed to review communication at stations including use of phones and alarms to ensure colleagues all have access to the same information [Action Josh Hopkins].

The Board noted the content of the strategic risk management report. The Board were updated on continuing work to embed CVL reporting into the overall strategic risk management structure; deep dives into bus franchising risks; and the development of a TfW Fibre dashboard.

A principle risk has been added around new procurement regulations which come into force early next year. Work is ongoing across the organisation to prepare for the changes.

Josh Hopkins left the meeting

The Board received an overview of the Chief Executive Officer’s report:

• Improving operational rail performance to a consistent service across the network continues to be a focus. Recent performance has plateaued and the new rolling stock is needed for an upshift. The Board noted the revised PTL target on Wales and Cross Borders for rail period 7 was missed. To date, revised targets are being achieved for the current period.
• Autumn season has been reasonable to date but there are noticeable wheel lathe constraints which have been exacerbated through the Canton lathe failing twice. However, proactive preparation through outsourcing trye turning has to date proved effective.
• Overall, the last 12 months have seen an improvement in passenger volume and customer satisfaction through a focus on rolling stock, customer service, crew and ticket pricing. However, improvements across all these areas are still being pursued and work continues to maintain a positive trend.
• Good progress is being made on bus and regional planning through effective working with local authorities with an emphasis on ensuring outcomes are evidence based.
• Recent meetings with the First Minister and Cabinet Secretary demonstrated a positive alignment on priorities across rail, bus and bringing them together subject to available budgets.
• Budgets over the next few years are likely to be very tight. The need to reduce the subsidy as much as possible was emphasised. The Board were notified that the £2 bus ticket cap will likely be increased in England.
• The Board were updated on rolling stock and plans for the introduction of Class 756s on TAM services, Class 150s coming out of service, and the introduction of Class 197 ETCS and Class 398s units. Class 197 ETCS units are being accepted for use on the non-ETCS network to provide more flexibility in the fleet. REDACTED
• CVL continues to progress with the Board updated on revised planning around the introduction of four trains per hour on the Treherbert-Aberdare-Merthyr section and phasing for the completion of the programme including Queen St works.

The Board noted the management accounts for TfW for September 2024/25 and TfW Rail Limited rail period 6.

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Work has commenced on the 2025/26 business plan and it was agreed that a detailed discussion on future years budgets would take place at an upcoming meeting.

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The Board approved TfW’s revised Non-audit Services Policy to reflect legislation changes.

The Board were updated on recent meetings of the TfW Rail Ltd, TfW Fibre and Pullman Ltd board meetings. REDACTED

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Peter Mc Donald left the meeting

Zoe Smith-Doe joined the meeting

By the end of Q2, 26% of business plan milestones for 2024/25 have been delivered. Milestones at risk from delivery will be discussed with the Welsh Government.

The Board noted the key performance indictors report for Q2 2025/26. The only areas for concern were ‘colleagues without a safety incident’ and ‘safety incidents per 100k passenger journeys.’ The targets for these two indicators are being reviewed. The Board were also informed that the figures for ‘complaints per 100k passenger journeys’ are being validated.

Zoe Smith-Doe left the meeting

Alexia Course and Rob Hale joined the meeting.

The Board were provided with the current status of TfW’s rail fleet and entry into service. REDACTED

Alexia Course and Rob Hale left the meeting.

Geoff Ogden and Matthew Gilbert joined the meeting

The Board were updated on TfW’s response to Audit Wales’s recent report on active travel and noted that it will be a joint response with the Welsh Government. The Board welcomed the opportunity to build on the report’s recommendations and to more clearly demonstrate how the funding and projects are supporting broader policy outcomes.

James Price left the meeting. 

Marie Daly and James Gough joined the meeting

The considered proposals TfW’s operational revenue protection provision and the options available when the existing outsourced contract ceases in April 2025. The proposal centred around bringing the existing team fully in-house and to develop it into a multi-skilled and multi-modal operation. The operation will focus on revenueprotection with customer experience at the centre and to better utilise the ‘4 E’s’ approach of Educate, Explain, Encourage and Enforce to drive long-term cultural change by improving customer fare paying behaviour, through improved education and well trained and equipped colleagues.

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Marie Daly and James Gough left the meeting

Lowri Joyce joined the meeting

The Welsh Language Strategy was published day before Eisteddfod and feedback has been positive. TfW’s contribution to the Eisteddfod was successful and welcomed by the Board with thanks expressed to all involved. Planning has started for next year’s event in Wrexham.

Lowri Joyce left the meeting

Dan Tipper joined the meeting

The last month saw an intense period of activity with significant physical works combined with challenges on the Overhead Line Equipment Assurance and Entry into Service as well as preparations for upcoming critical commissioning activities. The Board were updated on Class 756 and Class 198 entry into service, programme simplification, review of remaining deliverables for 2024/25, and signalling. The Board discussed current programme challenges.

Dan Tipper left the meeting.

Updates were provided on recent meetings of the Audit and Risk, T-network, Major Projects, and People committees.

The Board were briefed on the recent meeting of the TfW Steering Board which focussed on First Minister priorities, CVL progress; bus franchising; new TfW non-executive directors, finance, risk, and KPIs.

The Chair thanked Sarah Howells and Alison Noon-Jones for their time on the Board and supporting the wider business, wishing them all the best in their future endeavours.