Transport for Wales Board Meeting Minutes - 19 January 2023

19 January 2023

09:30 - 17:00

Venue - Llys Cadywn

 

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

In attendance: Jeremy Morgan; Leyton Powell (item 2); and Natalie Feely (items 1 to 3).

 

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

 

1a. Apologies for Absence

None.

 

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 15 December 2022 were approved as a true and accurate record. The actions log was noted.

 

1e. Safety Moment

The Board considered a recent employment tribunal regarding an individual working from home with a disability. The individual was asked to pick up chair from an office but was not able to because they were shielding. The individual was left without the appropriate equipment and left the organisation in question. The issue went to tribunal which the individual won. The Board were reminded of the need for duty of care for people working at home and not able to attend a place of work.

 

1f. Customer moment

The Board discussed on-board delay-repay announcements and the need for clarity on the system and the support in place to deal with claims.

 

2. Safety performance

Leyton Powell joined the meeting.

Operation Genesis ran throughout December in conjunction with BTP and other partners with the aim of providing an enhanced Security and Policing presence on the network to address increases in night time economy and alcohol related incidents. The operation saw 614 people refused travel on TfW services for disorderly conduct. Vulnerable passengers were safeguarded through partnership working with the Police and Ambulance service at designated “safe spaces”.

The partnership with the School of Hard Knocks at Idris Davies School in Rhymney has been renewed for a further two years. The project started due to increased youth related anti-social behaviour on the Rhymney line. At the end of the first year there was a 40% reduction in anti-social behaviour on the line. Work is underway to integrate work experience into the programme.

TfW legal advisers led a series of mock PACE interviews / mock trials in December to ensure that staff are fully supported for defending claims.

The Security and Operational Resilience team met with Transport for Greater Manchester regarding their successful “Travel Safe” partnership with Police and other services. The scheme focuses on targeting anti-social behaviour and crime on the network through a mix of enforcement and wider community engagement. The discussion was reported to be both collaborative and beneficial.

The Board were informed of a recent cable theft on the CVL resulting in 42 metres of HV cable being cut and stolen in the Radyr area. BTP are conducting a full investigation into the incident and the TfW chaired Security Forum is looking at further mitigations to deter future incidents. Security and Police patrols are continuing along the route checking access gates and locations where high value assets are stored.

Rail safety performance against targets remains consistently improved across the majority of KPI’s. Workforce FWI increased significantly with a spike in period 9 to 0.27. However, the moving annual average was at 0.06, lower than the predicted figure of 0.07. This spike during the period was caused by two members of workforce at Canton suffering ankle fractures after separate fall events.

Ten physical assaults were reported during the period, mainly caused by six station security staff being physically assaulted and harmed by a group of intoxicated football fans at Chester. Body worn cameras were either not worn or not switched on, and station CCTV being is being reviewed to find evidence of the incident.

There was one SPAD recorded in the period resulting signalling issues between Crewe and Sandbach. An investigation is ongoing.

Leyton Powell left the meeting.

 

3. Strategic update

3a. CEO report

The Board welcomed the recent “levelling-up” announcement from the UK Government regarding funding for Crossrail Cardiff and cycle and walkways in Gwynedd, the Conwy Valley and Holyhead.

The Board were briefed on key developments and achievements over the last month. This included focusing activities around further increasing TfW’s ability to think in an evidence-based way across multiple modes with a particular challenge and opportunity on bus franchising and ensuring lessons are applied from recent experiences in regard to rail.

The Board discussed the challenge to ensure a joined-up approach between construction, scheme development, and operational teams to feed ideas and challenge into future schemes, with the aim of achieving lower scheme development costs leading to more robust proposals and reducing reliance on consultants.

An update was provided on rail key performance indicators. The Board noted some targets are currently under review. The Board stressed the need to ensure targets are realistic and achievable and that underachievement does not affect staff morale.

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Plans for transitioning to a franchised system for bus continue to develop, subject to legislation being passed. The Board noted the expectation that this should result in a more strategic and outcome-focused remit but may include several difficult budget challenges. A key factor to success will be to fully embrace the new operating model and to ensure the delivery team is appropriately resourced.

Rail performance over the Christmas period was better than expected with the current figures showing the achievement of PTL targets for CVL but missed for Wales and Cross-Borders. The Board were reminded of reliability and availability challenges for the Cl175s and MkIVs, and the issues around Sundays in the working week.

The Board welcomed the significant volume of work completed on CVL Transformation over the Christmas period during a very wet couple of weeks.

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Work continues to revise TfW’s strategic approach on Active Travel, with a more detailed update tabled for later in the meeting.

The Board were also updated on: 

• Behavioral change
• Discussions on trunk roads
• The TfW app and website 
• The Pay-as-You-Go pilot 
• Replacement bus services
• TfW Pay award. The teams involved in bringing to a conclusion were thanked.

 

3b. Finance and governance

The Board were updated on key finance and governance activities. There has been a particular focus on end of financial year 2022-23 planning.

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The Board were further updated on:

• REDACTED
• The first draft of the Business Plan will be shared with the Welsh Government for comment by the end of January with the intent to complete by the end of February including presentation to the Board in the same month.
• Trade Union Execs rejected the 2019 pension valuation proposal by the ROG citing that the returns and coverage have improved since the valuation.

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The Board noted December 2022's management accounts.

Natalie Feeley left the meeting.

 

4. Sub-committees

The Board were updated on the recent meeting of the People Committee which had a full and meaningful agenda and included items on Pensions Comm Terms of Reference; TOM changes; and progress against milestones, an update on recruitment, key projects, absence and sickness review, and occupational health provision.

 

5. Network Rail

Michelle Handforth, Nick Millington (both Network Rail), Jan Chaudhry Van der Velde and Alexia Course joined the meeting.

Network Rail commented on the constructive working relationship between TfW and Network Rail over the last 12 months, including good progress on the development of a blueprint for a partnership between the two organisations in Wales.

The Board were updated on:

• a recent thorough review of Network Rail's team in Wales and plan for next five years;
• progress with drainage backlog and diseased trees;
• value levers to help Network Rail deliver a better railway in Wales;
• weather reliance, dealing with diseased trees and vegetation;
• measures to reduce temporary speed restrictions;
• Port Talbot re-signalling;
• Operations during strikes;
• Interaction with TfW depots

The Board welcomed Network Rail’s attendance at the meeting and particularly valued the work being carried out to develop a one-team approach both in terms of operational arrangements and supporting Network Rail’s Control Period 7 submission.

 

Lewis Brencher and Dan Tipper joined the meeting.

 

5. Budgets and business planning

Peter McDonald (Welsh Government) joined the meeting.

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Peter McDonald left the meeting.

 

6. Business plan

Zoe Smith-Doe joined the meeting. The Board noted an update on the development of the 2023/24 Business Plan. The Board noted the emphasis on linking activities with the five ways of working, digital, active travel, and behaviour change.

Zoe Smith-Doe left the meeting.

 

7. Pullman proposal for land acquisition

Owen Davies joined the meeting.

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Owen Davies left the meeting. Geoff Ogden joined the meeting.

 

8. CVL update

The Board were updated on progress with CVL Transformation. There was a good period of delivery over the Christmas period, particularly regarding OLE installation.

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The Board were also updated on solving the ICC power issue, design performance, and maintaining the importance of safety.

 

9. Risk register

Leyton Powell joined the meeting.

The Board noted that the risk management gap analysis at Pullman Rail is complete and has been shared with Pullman Rail colleagues for review and to agree actions, timescales, and owners.

The Board also noted that there are two issues and 11 Executive Leadership Team / Board risks of which one has been de-escalated.

Leyton Powell, Lewis Brencher and Dan Tipper left the meeting.

 

10. Active Travel

The Board were updated on the performance of local authorities in receipt of funding through the Active Travel Fund Programme managed by TfW on behalf of the Welsh Government. The Board were informed that there is currently a similar level of percentage underspend by local authorities as had occurred in 2021/22, which would lead to underspend of approximately £7m. However, in December, the Welsh Government wrote to local authorities asking for them to identify, by 31 December 2022, if any reduction in spend was likely this financial year. Only one local authority has formally reduced their funding allocation to date, with all other local authorities prior to quarter three claims, reporting anticipation of full expenditure.

The Board were informed that TfW has developed options for alternative use of funding totalling c.£8.5m in case the final underspend exceeds the potential £7m indicated above, but final options taken forward would not exceed the Active Travel Fund allocation. Proposals include a range of measures for delivery in 2022/23 with one requiring funding commitment from the Welsh Government in 2023/24. Welsh Government approval to vire funding will be sought by end of January.

 

11. Subsidiary company update

The Board were updated on the recent meeting of the TfW Rail Ltd Board.

 

12. Steering Board

The Board were updated on the recent meeting of the TfW Steering Board.

 

13. Confidential item

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