Transport for Wales Board Meeting Minutes - 18 January 2024

18 January 2024

09:30 - 16:00

Venue - Llys Cadwyn

 

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

In attendance: Peter McDonald, Jeremy Morgan, Alan McCarthy (Unite) (items 1-3), Leyton Powell (Items 1-3), Zoe Smith-Doe (Items 5.2-5.3), Dan Tipper (Item 5.4), Amy Nicholls (item 5.1), Geoff Ogden items 5.1 – 5.5), Helen Mitchell and Chad Collins (item 5.6).

 

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

1a. Apologies for Absence

Vernon Everitt and Andrew Morgan gave their apologies.

 

1b. Notice of Quorum

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

 

1c. Declarations of Interest

None.

 

1d. Minutes and Actions of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the TfW Board meeting 18 December 2023 were approved as a true and accurate record. The Actions Log was noted.

 

1e. Safety Moment

A TfL electric bus fire several weeks ago caused significant disruption in the surrounding area. The Board were reminded of the importance of incident management. 
The Board also noted a recent accident potentially linked to the headlight projection of a bus.

 

1f. Customer moment

The Board discussed a recent issue on TfL’s Elizabeth line when a power outage resulted in people being stranded on the train for several hours without toilets, heating or electricity. The lack of toilets in particular caused people to take drastic action including open the external doors. Lessons are being learnt from the incident.

The issue of litter on some services was discussed, but it was noted that the issue is less prevalent on new trains to which customers seem to show more respect. The Board were also informed that waste on trains now has to be separated which is not straightforward given the space constraints. Customers will be encouraged to take their waste home.

 

2. Health, Safety and Resilience

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

The highlights included:

• A joint TfW and AIW coordinated site visit to Taffs Well Depot and the ICC with several new ORR Inspectors. Overall, it was a positive event and a good opportunity to show the progress made on the Metro.
• The third meeting of the TfW-AIW Level Crossing Working Group resulted in the final structure for governance, risk assessment and risk appetite. AIW are now developing the output into draft procedures to ensure the process is clearer and more efficient with a single process.
• Workforce reported fatality weighted index is 0.03 and remains below the moving annual average of 0.06 and which is lower than the predicted figure of 0.07. The non-workforce fatality weighted index remained at 0.10 which is consistent with the predicted figure of 0.10. The non-workforce safety strategy is in development and will align with on-going behaviour change work.
• Ahead of the 6 Nations tournament, Exercise Cluedo is planned for 30 January. It will focus on event and emergency management in a workshop style exercise.
• Over the Festive period, Operation Genesis (South Wales) and Operation Garland (North Wales) ran in collaboration with British Transport Police and the security teams. The enhanced presence was able to provide a safe environment to customers and colleagues on the TfW network. There were 80 instances of people being asked to sober-up or refused travel due to behaviour.

 

3. Strategic risk register

The Board noted the content of the Strategic Risk Register. A review of risk management processes is complete, Board reporting and risk reporting in general is under review including the identification of ‘principle risks’ - those that could cause significant financial or operational impact.

Leyton Powell left the meeting.

 

4. Strategic / Development Update

4.1 - CEO Report

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

• A continuing trend of improving PTL figures and gradually improving rolling stock availability and capacity. Work continues to improve Mk4 reliability and availability and holding the supplier of the locomotives to account through a better contractual agreement. 
• In preparing to run Metro services, three members of the ELT visited TfL’s Elizabeth line to understand service recovery on a busy network; the impact of managing no toilets on trains; the customer journey including in times of service disruption; dwell times; and commercials / modal shift. The visit was useful and successful with some important lessons learned.
• At its previous meeting, the TfW Rail Board agreed to set up an Operational Performance Board which will include the Rail board’s NED and Associate NED. Initially the focus will be on rail and rolling stock but will graduate towards non-rail performance issues. The Board discussed options for how the committee’s work will feed into the main board.
• Good progress has been made around the bus agenda particularly the increasingly positive meetings and engagement with local authorities. The Board welcomed the bus franchising paper in the pack which will help the Welsh Government to develop the over-arching policy.
• A decision from the Welsh Government is awaited on the chosen option for CVL transformation but this is not holding up progress. The current stage is challenging, particularly around entry into service, but good progress is being made.
• A recent ORR visit explored TfW’s concerns around the pace of the Treherbert line re-opening and Bay line classification. The visit also allowed TfW to illustrate the positives of working Wales which can be done differently to the rest of the UK.
• A new IT and Digital Services Director took up post in early January with key priorities around app development and maximising the utilisation of the significant quantity of data held by TfW, especially through the new trains. The data can be used to drive a better customer experience and quality of service in a multi-modal TfW.
• The CEO recently spent a day in Llys Cadwyn speaking to all team members. Overall, it was a very positive experience which left a good impression of colleague’s attitude and dedication. The exercise will be repeated tomorrow in St Patrick’s House.
• Three members of the ELT met last week with the Football Association for Wales (FAW) on the back of some challenges in transporting fans for matched during Autumn 2023, and up-coming matches in Spring 2024. The meeting was positive in terms of planning for future matches and learning from the FAW’s reach into the community and engaging young people.

 

4.2. Finance (Management Accounts)

The Board noted the management accounts for January and were updated on:

• The year-end position which is in-line with forecasts.
• In-month capex and opex. There was a capex underspend in the month which not likely be reflected in the outturn position.
• Risks and opportunities around passenger revenue, AIW claims and capital.
• A funding letter for 2023/24 is awaited following resolution of the funding gap.
• The need for a discussion at Steering Board on IFRS 16 [Action Jeremy Morgan].
• Corporate KPIs. Work continues to ensure there is clarity in the messaging and to give an accurate picture of TfW performance. 

The Board discussed financial reporting and agreed there is a need for a summarised financial position, a ‘helicopter’ view of the financial situation including higher level numbers over longer time horizon on a half year basis.

 

4.3 Budget

The Board reviewed and noted the second version of the 2024/25 budget that will soon be shared with the Welsh Government. The budget includes the delivery of 5% savings across central services. The Board were informed that benchmarking has shown that TfW’s Central Services costs are favourable in relation to private sector benchmarking. REDACTED.

James Price left the meeting.

 

5. Operational Updates

5.1 Cardiff Central Enhancements

Amy Nicholls and Geoff Ogden joined the meeting. November’s meeting of the Cardiff Central Enhancements Strategic Board agreed a reduction in project scope to bring the project into the £139m budget envelope. The scope is reflected in the Outline Business Case which is currently under review by TfW and will be released for formal DfT and CCR approval at the end of the month.

The Board were informed of refreshed a governance framework including revised Cardiff Board Terms of Reference (ToR). The revised Board will provide strategic decision making to all Cardiff Metro Central Area projects with an integration group sitting directly beneath.

REDACTED

Amy Nicholls left the meeting.

 

5.2 Key Performance Indicators

Zoe Smith-Doe joined the meeting.

Work continues on refining the Corporate KPIs for public presentation. The Board reviewed the KPIs and agreed there needs to be better financial metrics and the data for workforce and non-workforce accidents should be proportional.

The Board noted the Business Plan milestones update and that 42 of the 370 milestones are at risks for delivery in 2023/24, none of which are of any great concern but require some management.

 

5.3 Corporate strategy

The Board agreed to extend the duration of the Corporate Strategy to 2026/27 to align with the terms of Welsh Government and the Programme for Government.

Zoe Smith-Doe left the meeting.

 

5.4 CVL Update

Dan Tipper joined the meeting.

The Board were updated on progress with delivery of the CVL transformation programme. the Board noted that:

• Over the Christmas Period, the Programme successfully completed all planned works, including the reopening of the Treherbert Line for driver training as planned on 2 January, a critical under track cable route on NR Infrastructure at Ninian Park and a number of Track, OLE and Civils works.
• Treherbert Stations authorisation remains a risk but positive progress has been made in terms of construction and assurance over the last four weeks.
• The design authorisation documentation has been submitted to the ASBO for both Trehebert and Dinas Rhondda, with approval anticipated in the middle of the month for onward submission to ORR. Ongoing  review of the Treherbert Stations authorisation will be undertaken through January and February to enable early mitigation of any further issues.
• Approval for permanent energisation of the OLE System from Cardiff to Pontypridd was received from the ASBO on 8 January, with that section of OLE now permanently energised. The remaining authorisation documentation from the Rolling Stock team is being progressed to allow proving runs of the Cl 756 to commence 15 January.
• Permanent energisation for the OLE sections to Merthyr and Aberdare remains programmed for 2 February.
• Due to the impact on Operations at Canton Depot, the proposed temporary energisation of the OLE system to support staff training was not completed from 8 January. The project team are developing a risk assessment to focus on specific required tasks and a reduced duration of energisation to mitigate the operational constraints and allow the energisation and training to take place during late January / early February.
• REDACTED

Dan Tipper left the meeting.

 

5.5. TfW Innovation Services Ltd business plan

The Board approved the TfW Innovation Services Ltd business plan for the year ending 31 March 2024.

REDACTED

Geoff Ogden left the meeting.

James Price rejoined the meeting.

 

5.6. PAYG

Helen Mitchell and Chad Collins joined the meeting.

The Board were updated on the successful pilot of the Pay As You Go system which covered around 1,600 journeys between Cardiff, Newport and Pontyclun. The project will be widened and launched through a communications and marketing plan. Some residual technical issues were are being worked through but nothing to stop customers using the system or TfW’s revenue generation. The Board were updated on further roll-out of the project, welcomed the progress made and being the first TOC outside TfL to implement such a system.

Lee Robinson joined the meeting

The Board asked whether the project is aligned with the on-going bus franchising work. The Board were informed that it remains work-in-progress and there is representation on the project team from the bus franchising team.

The Boards requested updates as the project is rolled-out across the network.

Helen Mitchell and Chad Collins left the meeting.

 

5.7 Executive Director of Regional Transport

Lee Robinson updated the Board on his evolving role which will involve taking the lead on TfW’s input into regional transport planning to ensure TfW adds value. The Board were updated on the scope of the role, working with CJCs and critical success factors.

Lee Robinson left the meeting

 

6. Rail Board

The Board were updated on the recent meeting of the TfW Rail Ltd Board. The meeting focussed on performance, driving revenue into the business, gateline coverage, a deep dive into Metro timetables, subscription pricing, and pay-as-you-go.

 

There being no further business, the Chair thanked all attendees for their contributions and closed the meeting.