Transport for London

Minutes of a meeting of the Board
held on Thursday 19 September 2002, commencing at noon.  
in The Chamber, City Hall, The Queen’s Walk, London SE1 2AA  

Present: 	Ken Livingstone (Chair) (Items 64 to 70)
Board Members:	Bob Crow
	Stephen Glaister
	Noël Harwerth
	Kirsten Hearn		
	Oli Jackson
	Susan Kramer		
	Paul Moore
	Murziline Parchment  (Item 64 to 70)
	David Quarmby (items 59 to 64)
	Dave Wetzel (Vice Chair)  (Chair from items 59 to 64)	
						
Special Advisor	Lynn Sloman
in attendance:	
	
Others 	Robert Kiley		
in attendance:	Maggie Bellis
	Ian Brown
	Valerie Chapman
	Stephen Critchley
	Gareth Davies
	Isabel Dedring
	Peter Hendy
	Pip Hesketh			
	Derek Turner
	Jay Walder
	Jeroen Weimar
	Betty Morgan

59/02	PRELMINARIES AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE 

It was noted that the Chair had been delayed and it was agreed that Dave Wetzel would chair the meeting pending Ken Livingstone’s arrival.  Apologies for absence had been received from  David Begg, Mike Hodgkinson, Tony West and Bryan Heiser 

60/02	DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

The Chair reminded Board Members of the requirement to declare any interests in the matters under discussion.   No interests were declared.

61/02	MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 July 2002 were agreed as a true record. 

62/02	MATTERS ARISING

There were no matters arising, not covered elsewhere.

63/02	COMMISSIONER’S REPORT

The Commissioner introduced Gareth Davies and Maggie Bellis, who had recently been appointed as General Counsel and Director of  Corporate Services respectively.  

The Commissioner introduced his written report for September 2002 and during discussion, the following points were noted:
In order to reduce the disruption caused by road works initiated by utility companies, a Streetworks Task Force had been established.  A high level meeting between the Mayor, the Boroughs and the utility companies had been planned in order to achieve co-operative working between the utilities’ areas of activity. Additional measures TfL was pursuing included: the pursuit of a further expansion of lane rental with Government; a reinforcement of police presence at site meetings and the development of a database to assist the identification of the location of roadworks.  It was agreed that a report on progress made with the database would be made to the Board in February 2003;
•	A request was made for consultation with the trade unions of all parties involved in the East London Line project, which had been redesigned and expanded;
•	The delay in producing rail cars for DLR had been due to strikes at the factory in Crespin but the majority of railcars had been fully commissioned and were due to be in service by the end of November.  It was suggested that the publicity literature for the railcars could include the Mayor’s decision at an early stage to bring the railcars up to DDA standards;
•	Work on the A2 was progressing well and the target date for completion was the end of November;
•	It was agreed that the Managing Director, Street Management, would prepare a report for the Board on the possibility of introducing a timer countdown system for traffic lights in London, similar to the system used in Istambul;
•	TfL was congratulated on the completion of the Trafalgar Square project and the fact that the significant improvements and environmental benefits were apparent;
•	London taxi drivers were being targeted to spread the message regarding the changes in traffic light timings;
•	Parking restrictions were not currently being sufficiently enforced and the suggestion was made that the Police be requested to enforce parking restrictions.  The majority of affected roads were Borough roads and it was noted that a new contract with the police to improve the situation had been proposed.  It was noted that Commander Alan Shave was due to retire in November. 

The report was noted. 

Ken Livingstone joined the meeting and took over as Chair.

64/02	SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE REPORT

David Quarmby introduced a report of the meeting of the Committee held on 4 September 2002.     

The main points David Quarmby drew to the Board’s attention were: 
•	The causes of sickness absence within LUL were noted;  
•	A report on motorcycle safety would be made to the Board by the end of the year.  It was noted that there had been a reduction in the allocation of resources to traffic police.  The Committee had expressed concern over driving standards and driver compliance and noted that non-compliance with traffic regulations such as banned U turns comprised a significant cause of accidents;
•	It was noted that the retiming of traffic light signals had been made in order to meet the Department for Transport standards;
•	LUL had pioneered methods of measuring safety climate within an organisation and the Committee was taking the lead in piloting measuring this within TfL.  The PCO had agreed to act as a pilot for a safety climate survey.  

During discussion, it was noted that a permanent cross TfL and LUL multidisciplinary team had been established which handles specific events such as the Notting Hill Carnival or the Golden Jubilee Weekend. A significant advantage of utilising a multidisciplinary team was the operational experience and contacts that each member brought to the team.  Each event required considerable planning and lessons learned from each event were routinely incorporated into planning for future events. 

David Quarmby left the meeting.

65/02	FINANCE AND PERFORMANCE REPORT

The Managing Director, Finance & Planning gave a presentation supporting and updating his written Finance and Performance Report to cover the first quarter ending 30 June 2002.     

During discussion, the following points were noted: 
•	TfL was undertaking work to analyse the extent of passenger shift from the Underground to buses and to determine whether this was due to price and/or capacity issues;
•	The level of Borough spend was the same in the current fiscal year as the previous year, but TfL was now paying for work once carried out rather than paying for work in advance;
•	The recently appointed Director of Corporate Services would address recruitment issues as a high priority for TfL;
•	It was agreed that the new monthly Bulletin produced by the Economics Unit funded by the GLA/TfL/LDA would be circulated to Board Members on a regular basis.

The report was noted. 
66/02	TfL’s GROUP STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

Jay Walder introduced the final version of TfL’s Group Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2002, which had been considered by the Finance Committee on 11 September.  Board Members were reminded that the draft Group Statement of Accounts had been presented to the Board on 30 July.  

It was noted that no questions or objections had been raised with the auditors following the three week public inspection period for the accounts, which ended on 29 July. It was further noted that Board Members had received a draft version of TfL’s Annual Report with a request to comment on the contents prior to publication.  

During discussion, it was noted that the TfL budget had to be an accurate instrument for running the business and accurate forecasting was essential. TfL officers were implementing measures to reduce future underspending and the Commissioner gave an assurance that TfL was not expected to be in an underspend position next year. 

The Chair commented on the success of the Hungerford pedestrian bridges, which had only been completed as a result of TfL’s initiative.

Following discussion, the Board:
(i)	approved the  Statement of Accounts; and 
(ii)	agreed that the Chief Finance Officer will make any minor adjustments arising from the ongoing audit work prior to the auditors signing their opinion.   

67/02	UNDERGROUND FARE PROPOSALS FOR 2003   

Jay Walder introduced a paper outlining proposals for revisions to fares on the Underground and DLR in January 2003.  The proposals had been discussed at the Rail Transport Advisory Panel on 6 September and the Finance Committee on 11 September. 

The proposals included an increase in Underground fares in line with inflation by an average of 1.5%, with an increase of all Underground single fares to Zone One by 10p but not including the  Zone One single fare.  All other single fares and the price of the carnet would be frozen. 

During discussion, it was noted that some Board Members were concerned that the proposed Underground fare increases for outer Londoners would result in a significant impact in the short term, which would coincide with the introduction of congestion charging and a potential recession. The Chair commented that since he had assumed power as Mayor to direct fares, on a year by year basis, Underground fares had increased only by inflation. In addition, there was no increase in trips which did not involve Zone One, and the impact of Pre Pay (due to come into effect in September 2003) would allow significant bulk discounts to be made in all zones.   

In response to a question on progress on integration across all modes, it was noted that agreement had been reached with all the Train Operating Companies (TOCs) in London that any station with gates or turnstiles will accommodate the Prestige card.  TfL was working with the TOCs on expansion of the utilisation of the card generally,  but it was anticipated that this issue would be included with the broader current consultation on fares policy and initiatives for the national railway.   A request was made to re-examine the current system of Zones.

Following discussion, the Board noted: 
(i)	The proposals outlined in the Board paper (Agenda Item 7) and attached tables; 
(ii)	That it was intended to seek views on the proposals from the London Transport Users’ Committee, the Strategic Rail Authority, the London Business Board, the relevant trade unions and the London Boroughs through the ALG; and 
(iii)	That the Mayor will formally consult with London Regional Transport on his draft directions, which, once finalised, will be reported to the TfL Board.   

68/02	DISPOSAL POLICY FOR SURPLUS TFL PROPERTIES

Jay Walder introduced a paper seeking approval for a disposal policy in respect of the TfL Group’s properties that were no longer needed for the discharge of its functions.  It was noted that the paper had been produced in response to the discussion at the previous Board meeting.  The Finance Committee had discussed the matter on 11 September and requested that a special meeting be set up to discuss the designation of surplus properties.

The Board noted the report and agreed the recommendations and intentions set out in paragraph 9 of Agenda Item 8, as follows:
(i)	The Board agreed the disposal policy recommended to it at its meeting on 30 July 2002.  In addition to that agreed policy, it is agreed that, if the TfL Property Consultant considers it appropriate, TfL should consider alternative ways of structuring sales when offering properties to registered social landlords.  However, in all cases, this would be subject to TfL being satisfied that it was not selling property at an undervalue and would be conditional on the buyer progressing the sale within a reasonable timescale set by TfL. 
(ii)	The Board agreed that the Managing Director, Street Management has delegated authority to resolve on TfL’s behalf to lift or vary the route safeguarding in place for the inherited road schemes. 

69/02	EQUALITIES AND DIVERSITY TEAM – PROGRESS REPORT

Jereon Weimar introduced the report which updated the Board on current work undertaken within TfL and highlighted the challenge faced in respect of targets.   TfL and the other GLA functional bodies had agreed to abide by the GLA Equalities Review recommendations.    

It was noted that Pip Hesketh, Head of Social Inclusion, will be examining the work done in this area to date with Maggie Bellis, Director of Corporate Services and also how to progress the work over the next few years.  A fuller report will be made to the Board in November 2002 or February 2003. 

The report was welcomed and, during discussion, the following points were noted:
•	Kirsten Hearn expressed concern that some key issues had not been addressed by TfL to date.  She requested that the report indicated how TfL proposed to support a more diverse age range within TfL and increased participation by lesbians, gay men and transgender people, with demonstrable outcomes;
•	The request was made for more analysis on a year by year basis, with information on how the data is broken down.   The data provided should include an indication of progress made against targets and cross checks should be aligned and consistent.

It was noted that it was likely that there would be a significant shift towards pursuing civil rights agendas throughout TfL and a strong baseline should be developed in order to attract staff.  The workforce should experience equality in the workplace on a daily basis.  TfL will focus on clarity and transparency of information in order to make information accessible to all. 

The report and the issues raised during discussion were noted.

70/02	ANY OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business 

 There being no further business, the meeting closed at 13.33

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Chair		Date