Transport for London

Minutes of a meeting of the Board
held on Tuesday 5th February 2002, commencing at 11.10 a.m. 
in Room AG16, Romney House, Marsham Street, London SW1P 3PY

Present: 	Ken Livingstone (Chair for items 1 to 9)	
Board Members:	Dave Wetzel (Chair for Items 10 to 14)		
	David Begg		
	Stephen Glaister	 	
	Kirsten Hearn		
	Mike Hodgkinson (Items 1 to 9)
	Oli Jackson
	Susan Kramer
	Paul Moore
	Murziline Parchment

Special Advisors 	Bryan Heiser 
in attendance: 	Lynn Sloman
	
Others 	Robert Kiley		
in attendance:	Ian Brown		
	Peter Hendy		
	Betty Morgan	
	Lesley McLeod
	Maureen Nolan
	Commander Alan Shave (Metropolitan Police Service)
	Michael Swiggs
	Derek Turner
	Jay Walder

01/02	PRELIMINARIES

The Chair reported that he had appointed Murziline Parchment and Noel Harwerth to the Board. Murziline Parchment was welcomed to her first Board meeting.  

02/02	APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE 

Apologies for absence had been received from David Quarmby and Tony West.

03/02	DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

The Chair reminded Board Members of the requirement to declare any interests in matters under discussion.   No interests were declared. 
04/02	MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

The minutes of the meeting held on 27th November 2001 were agreed as a true record. 

05/02	MATTERS ARISING

There were no matters arising.

06/02	COMMISSIONER’S REPORT

The Commissioner gave a presentation, outlining key aspects of his written report.  The report was noted.  Key issues in general discussion were:

It was noted that the Boards of London Transport and London Underground were due to meet on 5th and 7th February respectively, to approve the PPP contracts.  The Ernst & Young Value For Money Report would be released on 8th February, following which there would be a formal consultation period. TfL had requested that the period of consultation be extended from fifteen working days to thirty working days.

All bus priority work was being co-ordinated by LBSL as client and progress would be monitored closely.   The Boroughs were critical to delivering bus priorities.

Board Members noted the progress toward appointing a Head of Social Inclusion.   

The report was noted.

07/02	FINANCE AND PERFORMANCE REPORT

Jay Walder gave a presentation supporting his written  Finance and Performance Report to cover the nine months to December 2001, and other significant items discussed at the Finance and Audit Committee meeting on 24th January 2002. 

The following points were noted:
•	Bus patronage had continued to increase during November, although the number of journeys was slightly lower than budgeted and there was a strong growth in ridership of DLR.  LUL passenger journeys, however, recorded a sustained decrease; 
•	The variance to the budget for the nine months to December 2001 was £129m.  This was due to cost savings, underspends, slippage, and higher costs from work not included in the original budget;
•	At the recent GLA Budget Committee meeting, the TfL budget had been reviewed and a precept of £18m provisionally agreed.  The GLA Assembly was due to meet on 13th February to consider the final budget proposals.  TfL continued to be hopeful that additional funding would be made available but if not, the Board would be asked to prioritise budget items.

During discussion, it was noted that progress was being made on a number of equalities issues.  Specifically on transgender issues, TfL would be liaising with the GLA officer recently appointed to this area.  The possibility of a presentation on social inclusion and equalities issues at a future Board Meeting was raised.

08/02	TRANSPORT POLICING INITIATIVE

Peter Hendy and Commander Alan Shave of the Metropolitan Police Service introduced a presentation on proposed Transport Operational Command Unit (OCU).  The Unit was targetted to go live in June, with full operations by March 2003. 

The programme was welcomed by Board Members and during discussion, the following points were noted:
•	All staff at the OCU will have had training in race and gender issues. It was anticipated that staff will remain in place for up to five years before being moved to another position;
•	The Unit will introduce measures such as the use of motor bikes for traffic wardens, which should improve the response time significantly; 
•	Once further statistics on the pilot had been collected and assessed, a report will be made at an early opportunity;

09/02	PPP

The embargo placed on the House of Commons Select Committee report on London Underground ended at noon.  Copies of the report were distributed to Board Members shortly after noon and the Chair outlined key aspects of the report.   

A number of points were made in discussion, including the changed capacity forecasts, the absence of guarantees for TfL from the Government in the event of costs arising from cancelled programmes, and the general tenor of the Select Committee’s concerns at the PPP approach.

It was noted that a detailed response would be prepared by TfL following the release of the Ernst & Young Value for Money Report on 7th February. The position regarding plans to provide access above the minimum required by the Disability Discrimination Act will be examined and reported to Board Members.

10/02	CONGESTION CHARGING

Derek Turner provided an update on the responses to the second round of consultation on the proposed Scheme Order for the introduction of the Congestion Charging Scheme.  Although the number of responses was low in comparison to the previous consultation, the majority supported the scheme. 

It was noted that TfL was preparing a report on the proposals, including any recommended further amendments to the Scheme Order, to be delivered to the Mayor on 6th February.  The Mayor will then take a decision on whether to confirm, modify, or reject the Scheme Order, or opt for a public consultation. 
. 

11/02	ANY OTHER BUSINESS: APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER

The position of Chief Finance Officer had been advertised and Stephen Critchley was selected as the recommended candidate.  This is a statutory post with statutory duties.  It was noted that Mike Hodgkinson, as Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, had met Stephen Critchley and had endorsed the recommendation.  

It was agreed that Stephen Critchley  be appointed Chief Finance Officer with effect from 18th February 2002, the date of his joining TfL.

12/02	REVIEW OF PROVISION FOR WALKING, CYCLING AND AREA BASED SCHEMES

Derek Turner introduced his report on the recommendations arising from a task force review of walking and cycling provisions. 

The report was welcomed and it was noted that:
•	There was a perceived need to build up resources and facilities as part of the next phase;
•	TfL will produce guidelines for Boroughs;
•	LBI buses were utilising Selective Vehicle Detection to trigger signals at traffic junctions, thus sharing time at junctions more equitably between pedestrians and vehicles.

The Board noted the findings of the first stage of the review. 

The Board agreed:
i.	The programme of 2002/03 initiatives;
ii.	The budget allocation of £31.43 million for 2002/03 and the proposal that this is increased above the level in accordance with the proposals set out in Table A of Agenda Item 8, subject to the outcome of the GLA budget on 13th February 2002;
iii.	Continued development of the programme of walking, cycling and area based schemes through phase 2 of the review (to be reported back to the TfL Board).

13/02	CROSSRAIL AND EAST LONDON LINE PROJECTS

Ian Brown introduced a progress report on the development of the Crossrail and East London Line projects.   Concern was expressed at the absence of specific SRA Capital funding for Crossrail and also the perceived level of priority the SRA attached to the project. 

The report was noted.

14/02	SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE REPORT

In David Quarmby’s absence, Michael Swiggs introduced a report of the last meeting of the Committee on 18th January.

The report was noted. 

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 1 p.m. 

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Chair		Date