APPENDIX 15
Memorandum submitted by TSSA
TSSA welcomes the opportunity to respond to
the Transport Committee's request to submit comments on this matter.
TSSA is a trade union with 33,000 members employed in the transport
and travel industries throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic
of Ireland. TSSA currently has thousands of members working for
many of the undertakings that will be responsible for planning,
constructing, maintaining, servicing and operating transport and
related services for the 2012 London Olympics. These include Transport
for London, Network Rail and various train operating and railway
infrastructure companies.
Set out below are the TSSA's views on various
matters that we consider relevant to the Committee's examination.
FUNDING AND
THE ROLE
OF THE
PRIVATE SECTOR
Improvements to the transport network required
to deliver the world class Olympics promised requires very substantial
levels of investment. It is the Government's responsibility to
provide this and the Government have a duty to ensure that wrangles
over funding do not cause delay in delivery. TSSA does not currently
have a view on the adequacy of the level of funding, but no doubt
this will become clearer as the project develops.
TSSA considers that the experience of the railway
industry demonstrates that privatisation of the railways has been
a disaster and provided poor value for money with commercial organisations
benefiting from massive levels of public subsidies for providing
inadequate levels of service. It is encouraging that services
formerly operated by Connex improved significantly when it lost
its franchise and train operations taken over by South Eastern
Trains in the public sector. TSSA considers that this experience
has relevance to the Olympic transport system and should be borne
in mind by the Committee and the Government when considering the
role of the private sector.
The ability to deliver frequent, fast and reliable
services depends on the state of the infrastructure (roads and
rail) and the state of the vehicle fleets and rolling stock. This
means that investment must start immediately. Specifically in
regard to the railways, Network Rail itself has reported that
services have improved since it took back in-house responsibility
for track maintenance. The most marked improvements have occurred
on those parts of the network where maintenance has been back
in-house the longest. Hopefully, these improvements will continue
and will benefit the railway aspect of the Olympic Transport Network.
TSSA considers that this experience has implications
elsewhere. Private Public Partnership has proved to be especially
unsuccessful and costly in the case of the London Underground
rail network. TSSA considers that based on this experience there
should be no place for PPP in the Olympic Transport Plan and those
undertakings currently in possession of contracts. The improvements
required cannot be left to chance and should not involve organisations
that have done poorly when given the opportunity and large sums
of public money. It would cause TSSA very serious concern if any
commercial organisation with a poor track record in this area
of activity would benefit financially from public investment.
TSSA considers that PPP is over complicated and delivers very
poor value for money. Furthermore, it results in over-complicated
contractual arrangements that impact on the system in terms of
safety and strategic and operational management.
The investment required to make the Olympic
Transport Network a reality will have benefits that to the community
that will live beyond 2012 and the short period of the Olympics
Games themselves. It is imperative that these benefits are realised
sooner rather than later. It is important therefore that necessary
measures are taken to speed up infrastructure improvements. It
is understood that this cannot be done without disruption to services
and communities. However, the sooner people can experience real
improvements that make a qualitative and quantitative difference
the more likely they are to grow in enthusiasm for the whole Olympic
project and the legacy it will leave. The negative effect of delays,
indecision and inactivity on public confidence and support should
not be underestimated.
The success of the Games will depend to a large
extent on the provision of frequent, fast and reliable services
for all interested parties to and from the numerous venues as
set out in the successful bid. TSSA particularly welcomes the
fact that major (if not all) venues will be accessible only by
public transport. It is particularly important, therefore, that
fares are affordable and this should be a major consideration
from an early stage so as not to discourage or exclude any sections
of society from the opportunity to enjoy the Games.
OTHER PROJECTS
The Committee asks the question "Will funding
be diverted from other transport projects?" That is a question
that can only be answered by the funding authorities. However,
the TSSA considers that funding for this project should be separate
and over and above funding for other transport investment in the
region and throughout the country as a whole. It would be particularly
divisive and damaging to the Olympic cause if funding problems
were resolved by diverting funds from transport improvement projects
outside the region. Much needed investment in public transport
improvement in other parts of the country should not suffer from
knee jerk reactions to address short term funding problems. It
would also be wrong to divert money from other major projects,
such as Crossrail, within the region that can only suffer from
further delay and indecision.
THE LEGACY
TSSA also welcomes the Committee's early interest
in the post Olympic period after 2012. The legacy of the games
is an important aspect of the project that will benefit the economy
and quality of life of the capital and beyond. Indeed, it was
a major tactic used in helping win public support (especially
outside Greater London) and all involved have a duty to make sure
that promises are kept and the benefits materialise.
The opportunity afforded by the successful Olympic
bid to improve public transport should be regarded as a starting
point, not the end. Too often in the past highly publicised, cutting
edge, showcase transport initiatives have been followed by years
of under-investment, neglect and decline. This should not be allowed
to happen in this case. Instead it should be used as an opportunity
and developed as a model of best practice for providing a high
quality integrated public transport network. In particular the
capacity of the rail aspect of the network needs to be expanded
massively to cope with the economic and population growth that
will ensue. Only by doing this can the region and the country
benefit from the full economic and increasingly important environmental
benefits that can only be achieved by an expansion in rail capacity.
The massive environmental advantage of rail over all other transport
modes needs to be restated at every opportunity. If this can be
achieved in this area, there is no reason why the model cannot
be transplanted to other major metropolitan areas and regions.
SECURITY
The London bombings of 7 July 2005, put security
on public transport back on the top of the agenda. Whilst accepting
that total security cannot be guaranteed, TSSA considers that
the Government should undertake a thorough review of the threat
of terrorism to public transport safety and implement measures
to improve this without delay. Furthermore, TSSA considers that
the Government should ensure that appropriate training, equipment
and back up is provided for all workers who are likely to have
to deal with such incidents in the course of their work. TSSA
also considers that visible front line staff have a crucial part
to play in this and other aspects of public transport safety.
This role should be recognised by ensuring that staffing levels
are adequate for this purpose. This approach will demonstrate
to public transport workers that their safety is paramount and
will also help boost the level of public confidence in public
transport. TSSA considers that in calling for such a review special
consideration should be given to the Olympic Transport Plan, that
will no doubt take account of security assessments and failures
at previous Olympic Games.
STAFF INVOLVEMENT
& TRAINING
The involvement of the workforce is crucial
to the success of any enterprise. This is clearly true when it
comes to public transport serving such an important large scale
international event. All concerned have a duty from the outset
to create the environment and conditions that will generate a
highly skilled, motivated and committed workforce. TSSA considers
that the best way that this can be achieved is by genuine engagement
with the workforce through proper and fair procedures agreed between
the unions and employers. It is essential that bad industrial
relations are not allowed to develop. Poor industrial relations
could in a worse case scenario result in industrial action resulting
in late, substandard or non- delivery. TSSA looks forward to working
with existing employers with which it has agreements and new employers
that will come into being in the years ahead. Employers involved
in the Olympic project should have high ethical standards that
should include agreements with relevant trade unions and facilities
that allow trade union organisation of the workforce
With proper facilities, training and equipment
TSSA believes that the workforce will rise to the challenge that
will deliver an excellent quality of service in the run up to
2012 and beyond. Training needs require early attention, skills
gaps identified and training programmes planned and implemented.
There are a number of areas that spring to mind.
Foreign language skills take a long time to acquire and would
appear to be one area for immediate action. These language skills
are particularly relevant to employees working at the customer
interface. Rail Union Learning (RUL) has already provided training
in this area in European languages and there is certainly a demand
from rail employees. RUL has also identified a demand for training
in sign languages, but has not been able to deliver because of
lack of funding. This would be an ideal opportunity to also improve
the skill base and level in non-European languages. RUL is also
committed to up-skilling the workforce in Skills for Life. The
Olympics will reinforce the urgency of this for all transport
workers and will continue to benefit London and employers long
after 2012. This training could be provided in community based
establishments that could be part of the legacy to East London.
The Olympic bid included details of a large
contingent of volunteer workers who will be involved. Managing,
supervising and working with volunteers can require different
skills to those required for working with paid staff. It is also
an area for potential friction and concern eg in undermining the
terms and conditions of employment of the paid workforce. It is
important that there is proper communication and consultation
on this issue and proper training provided for employees who have
to deal with volunteers as part of their job. Volunteers could
also create potential problems in regard to health and safety,
especially in the transport industry. This issue needs to be considered
in detail and proper training provided.
8 September 2005
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