Supplementary memorandum by TSSA (LU 02B)
PERFORMANCE OF
LONDON UNDERGROUND
I write to you in response to the letter of
20 December seeking further information on four separate issues.
I will deal with the issues in the order in which they arose although
I should point out that my comments in relation to point 2—Q23-25
were submitted by my office in Frank Ward's letter of 20 December
2004 which also detailed suggested corrections to the draft minutes
of evidence.
1. Q12: In respect of safety
training the infra companies and LU now do their own thing in
terms of delivery. Whilst the standards that require to be met
will be as agreed the fact that it is delivered independently
by each organisation means that the delivery will vary as will
some of the emphasis during training. Prior to the PPP the delivery
of safety training was standardised to the extent that it was
delivered by LU to its own standards and with its own issues importance
being highlighted as LU decided to be necessary.
2. Q23-25: See LU 02A[1]
3. Q27-29: Recent British Transport
Police Annual Reports showed the number of reported staff assaults
on London Underground increasing from 580 in 2002-03 to 820 in
2003-04. The latest BT Annual report (August 2004) showed that
violent crime on London Underground had risen by 22.1%, mostly
due to the increase in assaults on staff which now account for
a third of reported incidents.
The TSSA is further concerned by the fact that
the fragmented rail industry has struggled to settle on a common
method for reporting workforce assaults, which has led to discrepancies
between reporting rates in train operating companies and has possibly
also led to a general under-reporting of assaults by staff.
4. Q44: Metronet has reached
agreement with the trade unions on health and safety best practice.
Having considered of the views of the TSSA Health and Safety representatives
in Metronet, our impression in respect of the effectiveness of
the agreement is somewhat mixed. The impression we have is that
the agreement is being implemented well within Metronet SSL who
seem to be leading on the initiative and have for example appointed
Health & Safety Co-ordinators from amongst the Trade Union
reps and given them full time paid release to carry out their
duties. Metronet BCV on the other hand do not seem to have displayed
the same level of commitment to the extent that the agreement
is seen by employees as having had little to no impact.
Gerry Doherty
General Secretary
28 January 2005
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