DfT leads the pack!

This from Civil Service World...

First ever Whitehall gender pay gap survey reveals Department for Transport has biggest differentialhttps://t.co/PJzzZwEJsn pic.twitter.com/rNDW8Brj2i

— Civil Service World (@CSWnews) December 19, 2017

Presumably nothing to do with the Director of Passenger Franchising being paid more than the PM?

Awkward!

Wizard Required - Apply DfT

Exciting news in the world of recruitment!

This from the Grauniad's job section:

And what special skills are required that needs must disbar 'muggles' from applying for the role?

Eye's man in the North West who peruses the situations vacant ads, asks "who on earth thinks that Ministerial statements should be clear and concise?"

"Perhaps a start could be made by offering a simple yes or no answer to questions like 'will you actually build the extra platforms promised for Manchester Piccadilly?'"

"And in terms of concision, perhaps a date could be given for when these long promised platforms will open for traffic?".

Such Northern naivety. Expelliarmus!

Humza, I'm not sure that this is a great idea.

The SNP has decided to disaggregate the BTP!

Delighted to pass my first Bill with support from Greens. Will make Railway Policing more accountable & draw on wider pool of expertise

— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) June 27, 2017

Of course even in Scotland, it is rumoured that, fine Malts are watered down.

Why would you do this?

Amber Rudd, Chris Grayling, Tom Winsor, Philip Rutnam and Bernadette Kelly please note:

HANDS OFF OUR BOBBIES!

DfT Ministers - Roles and Responsibilities

Here are the published roles and responsibilities of the refreshed DfT Ministerial team:

Secretary of State – Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP

• Overall responsibility for the Department’s policies

Minister of State – Rt Hon John Hayes MP

• Highways England
• Modern Transport Bill
• maritime (including Maritime and Coastguard Agency)
• maritime security
• freight and logistics
• environment and technology
• skills and innovation
• built environment

Parliamentary Under-Secretary for State (Rail Minister) – Paul Maynard MP

• rail (including housing development)
• rail security
• light rail

Parliamentary Under-Secretary for State – Jesse Norman MP
Responsibilities to be confirmed but likely to include:

• HS2
• devolution including Northern Powerhouse
• sustainable accessible travel (including walking and cycling)
• smart ticketing

Parliamentary Under-Secretary for State – Lord Callanan
Responsibilities to be confirmed

• Transport spokesman in the House of Lords 

A big Railway Eye welcome back to Paul Maynard (and note the 'housing development' role in Paul's remit).

Rutnam speaks!

This from the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Transport:



Perhaps the industry should share our own internal comms best practice with Marsham Street?

OPRAF is dead. Welcome to ORPS!

This from the Department for Transport...

Written statement to Parliament

Outlines recommendations from the recent rail review.
 
The Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP

As recommended by Richard Brown in his review into franchising and as part of June 2013’s national infrastructure plan Investing in Britain’s Future, my department undertook to review government rail functions in order to identify what actions were required to deliver those functions in the most effective and efficient way. The review has now submitted its recommendations to me. I have agreed its recommendations and implementation will begin shortly.

The review recognised that much has already been achieved since the department’s rail functions were brought together into a single rail group in January 2013. A clear, professional franchise programme is underway, implementing Richard Brown’s review of franchising, along with the government’s ambitious rail investment programme. Building on this progress, the review recommends further developing the department’s rail functions as a new rail executive.

Creation of the rail executive will support the drive to strengthen our focus on passengers; build an enhanced culture of commercial expertise and innovation; and ensure greater coordination of improvements to track and trains. A single team will manage the interdependencies between rolling stock, track, stations, freight and passenger services; and between existing services and HS2. It will also develop an effective framework agreement for Network Rail, for September 2014, when it will be classified as public sector. A new approach to recruitment, reward and career development for commercial rail skills will allow the rail executive to increase capability at all levels and bolster commercial experience in the management team. This will reduce the department’s dependency upon consultants and increase its ability to negotiate the best deal for passengers and the taxpayer.

The review recommended that there should be a clear focus on rail passenger services within the rail executive. This will be provided by a new Office of Rail Passenger Services, forming part of the rail executive, with responsibilities including delivery of the franchise programme and the management of existing franchises. It will be led by an externally recruited managing director and supported by non-executive board members.

The review has also recommended we consider a longer term option of a new, more arms-length body with responsibility for rail delivery functions. The creation of the rail executive provides a strong foundation for such future evolution and the government will consider moving to a more arms-length body in 2016.

ENDS

UPDATE: This from Virginia Waters...

Compare and contrast this from Robert Goodwill...

Minister Goodwill states that the Secy of State will be able to veto excessive salaries and bonuses.
— Transport Committee (@CommonsTrans) February 24, 2014

With this from today's statement by the Secretary of State...

"A new approach to recruitment, reward and career development for commercial rail skills will allow the rail executive to increase capability at all levels and bolster commercial experience in the management team." 
 
Good to see everyone is as joined up as ever.

Update: This from Steve Strong...

This is what the new structure will look like according to the Organisational Review of Department for Transport Rail Functions...

 So now you know.

Wilkinson contract at DfT extended

This from the DfT...

Peter Wilkinson to carry on as Franchising Director

The Department for Transport has extended the contract of Interim Franchising Director Peter Wilkinson to January 2015 to ensure the continued successful roll out of the Government’s rail franchising programme.

Peter, who has been with the Department since January, was key in launching the DfT’s comprehensive new franchising schedule in March.  The contract extension will provide continuity of leadership for the franchising programme through to delivery of the initial franchise competitions and direct awards. 

In a less than perfect world, the least bad result!

Brown joins DfT Board

This from the DfT...

Richard Brown appointed to the Department for Transport Board

Richard Brown CBE has been appointed as a Non-Executive Member of the Department for Transport Board by Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin.

He joins lead Non-Executive Director Sam Laidlaw and other Non-Executives Ed Smith, Alan Cook, Sally Davis, Mary Reilly and John Kirkland.  

Good news indeed.

And just months after completing his independent review that validated franchising!

Virgin gets its day in court!

So purveyors of popcorn are in for a bumper month of sales!

Last Friday saw a pre-hearing for Virgin's application for a Judicial Review into the process behind the InterCity West Coast franchise award.

M'learned friends are expected to square up in court on the 17th or 18th of this month, with legal debates expected to last a number of days.

Hopefully all interested parties will remember that this Thursday is the cut off point for submitting evidence...

UPDATE: This from Steve Strong...

As no doubt the wheels of Justice will take many months to turn, DOR must now be a shoe-in for running InterCity West Coast from the 9th December.

Unless of course the newly emboldened ORR objects... 

DfT prepares to activate DOR on West Coast

As Beardie and ToT gear up for this afternoon's barnstorming performance at the TSC, the DfT is turning up the heat on Virgin.

In yesterday's Sunday Times Karl West reported that Marsham Street is considering renationalising the InterCity West Coast franchise if there are delays to the start of the new franchise (due to commence on the 9th December).

A DfT spokesman said "In view of the legal challenge from Virgin Trains, we are looking at our responsibilities under Section 30 of the Railways Act and it is only prudent to increase our focus on contingency planning."

On the plus side, taking over the ICWC franchise for a short time this year will help Directly Operated Railways prepare for a longer custodianship in 2019. (Shurely shome mishtake? Ed)

Rutman named as new PS at DfT

So a big Eye welcome to Philip Rutnam, who has been appointed the new Permanent Secretary at the DfT.

Rutman is currently Director General Business and Skills at BIS and will take up his new post in Marsham Street on 11th April 2012.

According to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills website:

Philip Rutnam was appointed Director General, Business and Skills in December 2010. Prior to this he had been Director General, Business, since March 2009.

Philip was previously at Ofcom where he was a Partner and then Board Member. He helped to establish Ofcom as an organisation and then to lead its work on competition, economic regulation and use of the radio spectrum.

A former senior Treasury official, Philip Rutnam's career also includes working in corporate finance at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong, a period as Private Secretary to the Financial Secretary, and responsibility for the Treasury's interest in business and enterprise. He also previously represented the UK at the European Investment Bank.

In light of the Command Paper's terse dismissal of Open Access competition, Eye is unsure what use his Ofcom experience will be...

UPDATE: This from Sir Humphrey Beeching...

I'm pleased to see that Lucy Chadwick has also been named the new Director-General of Major Projects and London.

Bobby Devereux and I both had her marked out for great things, and of course she covered the role just a year ago.

With everyone at the Department playing musical chairs, I look forward to hearing where my old friend Peter Strachan ends up.

UPDATE: This from Minster Benn...

Has Sir Humphrey been at the dishwater again?

Ms Chadwick is not taking on Mr Strachan's job.

She will be taking up the post of DG International, Strategy and Environmental.

If that isn't an Oxymoron.

Hard times for the new Permanent Secretary?

Telegrammed by Leo Pink
According to the indefatigable Whitehall winer-and-diner Sue Cameron, writing in the Financial Times, Ms Lin Homer's move from the UK Border Agency to be the new Permanent Secretary at Transport will involve some sacrifice.

Her pay scale at the Agency was £205,000-£209,999.

At Transport it will be a mere £160,000-£164,999.

That should make for some interesting insights when the subject of Network Rail bonuses arise.

Given that conventional wisdom has it that Network Rail's Directors need the prospect of doubling their salaries to get out of bed in the morning and do the job they are paid for, presumably Ms Homer will be motivated be resentment rather than greed.

Or, dare one hope, a good old fashioned 'public service' ethos?

UPDATE: This from the Velopodist...

If I might apply a little logic to the question of Lin Homer's pay, I guess the proof of whether her pay package has been successful is how well the UK Border Agency has run and how well the DfT runs after she takes over.

Looking at how removals of asylum seekers and other sensitive issues have been handled under her watch at the Border Agency, one might ponder whether a more imaginative, performance-oriented pay policy might have incentivised senior staff to get the mess sorted out more quickly?

Heaven help us, meanwhile, if the pay cut leads her to make any less effort as she tries to clean out the Augean stables she'll find at the DfT...

DfT statement on Local Authority Major Schemes

INTERIM GUIDANCE ON LOCAL AUTHORITY MAJOR SCHEMES

The Government has made clear its most urgent priority is to tackle the UK's record budget deficit, in order to restore confidence in the economy and support the recovery. The Department for Transport will play a full part in the spending review which will be reporting in the autumn.

Only once the Government’s spending review has been concluded will the Department for Transport be in a position to identify those major investments that can be supported.

Until this work is concluded, it would be inappropriate, given the likely budgetary constraints, for DfT to continue to invest time and resources on scheme development at the same rate as before.

Local Authorities should not therefore assume that schemes prioritised under the previous Government’s Regional Funding Allocations (RFA) process will be funded to the previous published levels. They will wish to consider carefully whether investing further time and resources in developing such schemes is justified.

It is also a logical step in light of the Government’s commitment – as set out in the Coalition Agreement – to reform the way funding decisions are made on which transport projects to prioritise.

Because of the action required to contribute to the £6.2bn of savings in cross Government spend in 2010/11, it is now very unlikely that any schemes not yet fully approved will be able to begin construction before the end of 2010/11 and the headroom for any new construction starts in 2011/12 is likely to be limited.

All schemes that were granted Conditional Approval or Programme Entry by the previous Government will be reviewed as part of the spending review. Until then, the Government can give no assurances on funding support for any of these schemes.

In parallel to the spending review we will also be reforming the way that funding decisions are made on which transport projects to prioritise, as the Government committed to do in the Coalition Agreement. This will include a consideration of the strategic framework for the funding and prioritisation of regional and local major schemes in the future.

We should make it clear that all spend by Local Authorities and PTEs on schemes that have not yet reached full approval is entirely at their own risk.

The Department does not accept any liability for development or preparatory costs incurred to date or which may be incurred going forward while funding remains uncertain.

With immediate effect, and at least until the conclusion of the spending review:-

• the Major Schemes Guidance for Local Authorities published by the previous Government is suspended. It should not be regarded as a representation of current policy and should not be followed by scheme promoters.
• The Department will not be taking any funding decisions on scheme approvals, including those scheme bids that have already been submitted for approval.
• The Department will not accept any further bids for any stage of major scheme funding approval (and, by extension, scheme promoters will not be able to claim preparatory costs by submitting a ‘compliant’ Conditional Approval or Full Approval bid).
• The Department will not release any funding for small schemes of £5m or less that had been prioritised for funding under the previous Government’s RFA programme.
• The Secretary of State will not take decisions on scheme orders for schemes requiring DfT funding, but consideration will be given if there are alternative funding sources.
• Scheduled public inquiries on schemes requiring DfT funding will generally be postponed and no further inquiries will be scheduled, inquiries will be allowed to proceed if there are alternative funding sources.

The Department also strongly advises Local Authorities to exercise caution in any further public communication about individual schemes, and to avoid unduly raising expectations, for example through public consultations and exhibitions.

DfT officials will engage with LA scheme promoters and other stakeholders on a pragmatic basis to deal with any difficult issues that arise in relation to existing schemes. However, DfT will not encourage or assist LAs to progress potentially abortive work on schemes until the funding position is clear.

DfT Officials may engage on a limited basis with authorities: on schemes that already have Conditional Approval; and to identify schemes that have critical safety or lifeline issues. However, even in these cases, we will not accept bids for scheme approvals until further notice and any expenditure by scheme promoters is at their own risk until funding is clarified following the spending review. Promoters should therefore seek to minimise preparatory costs on such schemes.

The Department appreciates the uncertainty that these temporary measures will cause, but the scale of the savings required across Government in order to reduce the deficit means that the existing pipeline of schemes will not be affordable, and that we need to take action now to avoid further unnecessary spending.

We will aim to provide a firm indication on the way forward later this year once the spending review is complete.

Anyone know if this will scupper the appalling Luton - Dunstable guided busway?

UPDATE: This from a Mr Saltaire...

According to BBC East News….

Yes!!!

DfT prepares for the worst

This with a bowler tip to Oily Spanner...

It's good to see that the Civil Service is preparing for hard times.

Why no less a figure than Robert Devereux, Permanent Secretary at the DfT has been brushing up his busking skills:

For years I have joined a scratch choir of local residents which tours the streets singing carols before Christmas.

Now repeat after Eye:

"Spare the price of a cup of tea guv'?"

How Whitehall works...

This from Sir Humphrey Beeching...

My esteemed former colleagues in Marsham Street tell me that their new masters, having got used to their new desks and red boxes and cancelled some expenditure, are looking for examples of their new Department's previous 'micro-management'.

Of course in true Yes Minister style the Marsham Street mandarins have a Plan A - which is to claim it was all a figment of RAIL's imagination, which should keep the pressure off for a few days.

Ministers will of course came back with 'What about IEP then?'

Here Plan B comes into play, admitting that the specification was indeed a disaster but that lessons have been learnt...

Fortunately the arrival of Sir Andrew Foster's review of the IEP on Friday should provide enough distraction to take us well into June. By which time our new masters should be dependent on what their officials tell them - like all good ministers.

It's always a tricky weaning ministers off their independent sources of information.

Fortunately the election saved us from Lord Adonis who had an annoying habit of making policy off his own bat!

UPDATE: This from Nigel Harris over at RAIL...

What's this?

“..a figment of RAIL’s imagination”

Typical - when in doubt, blame the press.

It’s a damned calumny I tell you.

Ministerial roles and responsibilities

This from the DfT website...

Secretary of State, Philip Hammond MP

• Spending Review
• Transport Security
• High Speed Rail

Minister of State for Transport - Theresa Villiers MP

• Rail
• London – including Crossrail
• Olympics
• Europe Aviation – including Air Accidents Investigation Branch

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Norman Baker MP

• Regional and Local Transport
• Buses and Taxis – including concessionary fares
• Walking and Cycling
• Accessibility and Equalities
• Alternatives to travel

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Mike Penning MP

• Strategic Roads and Highways Agency
• Motoring Agencies
• Road Safety and Standards
• Freight and Logistics
• Maritime and Dangerous Goods - including Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Good to see that the 'Spending Review' comes first and foremost...

UPDATE: This from the Shunter...

Presumably once the Secretary of State has completed his Spending Review the other ministers can return to the back benches?

Job done - last one out please turn off the Marsham Street lights.

UPDATE: This from Our Man at 222 Marylebone Road...

It looks as though the portfolios have got crossed within DfT.

Should not Norman Baker be in charge of "Things that are really important and cost a lot of money and can screw up the country if they go wrong"

And should not Therasa Villiers have under her wing "Politically correct things that we have to care about or can let the PTEs get on with?

And ITSO smart cards seem to have fallen into a black hole.

The new improved DfT at a glance!

Philip Hammond's exciting and vibrant new team as below...

Theresa Villiers MP has been appointed Minister of State. Theresa Villiers is MP for Chipping Barnet.

Norman Baker MP has been appointed Parliamentary under Secretary. Norman Baker is MP for Lewes.

Mike Penning MP has been appointed Parliamentary under Secretary. Mike Penning is MP for Hemel Hempstead.

Errr... that's it.

And now for the junior posts...

This just in from Sir Humphrey Beeching...

My former colleagues tell me that the delay in announcing the Department for Transport ministerial team was due to the time taken in matching faces to names.

When the PM wrote in 'Hammond' for SoS it took some time work work out whether he meant Hammond P, the doctor and comedian who was a huge success at a recent railway function, Hammond S, the shadow minister, or Hammond P the treasury shadow.

Although Dr Phil came close to a seat in the Lords as a working peer, the money man won through.

The Department is now struggling with Junior Ministerial appointments, where 'Baker' was pencilled in.

Does that mean veteran Tory Kenneth, who knows nothing about railways, Lib Dem Shadow Norman who knows a bit about railways or DfT's own Stuart who knows everything about railways.

Watch this space...

Doomed London Midland slapped with wet fish

Disastrous GoAhead franchise London Midland has been severely chastised by Moley and crew:

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Chris Mole):

My right honourable and Noble Friend the Secretary of State for the Department for Transport (Lord Adonis) has made the following Ministerial Statement:

The performance of London Midland on 6 September 2009 fell short of its customers’ expectations and was unacceptable to both passengers and Government.

I can now outline the measures I have taken, and the actions I have agreed with London Midland in respect of London Midland’s breach of its franchise agreement.

First, I have issued London Midland with a Remedial Plan Notice for exceeding the Franchise Agreement threshold on cancellations. This requires London Midland to submit to me a Remedial Plan for addressing the level of cancellations. Discussions are at an advanced stage on a range of measures to be implemented within the Remedial Plan.

The Remedial Plan will be contractualised as a Remedial Agreement.

Second, a package of additional benefits for passengers has been agreed, including:

An additional franchise agreement obligation to invest in new, and additional, high-quality information equipment, spending no less than £4.4 million over the life of the franchise in addition to the investment that has already committed in the franchise agreement; and

A promotion for 50,000 day rover tickets for travel over the Christmas period and London Midland will also make available an additional 400,000 Advance Purchase tickets over the next two years on some of the most popular routes.

That should have Permatan Rail quaking in its boots!

UPDATE: This from D1062...

After LM appears to have climbed back from the brink, I was intrigued to hear that unless the company improve their pay offer then ASLEF members will block RDW and O/T from 14th November.

More mass cancellations at LM then...

UPDATE: This from our man at 222 Marylebone Road...

Clearly the Grey Fox has taken on a long term project.

(Based on recent performance he may be better to view it as a very short term project. Ed)

Sadiq says...

Via twitter...

In office trying to complete Red Box while listening to Rosie W doing great job at Report Stage of Bill I would be doing but for reshuffle..

Eye hopes the Noble Lord will soon give his Transport Minister something to get his teeth into.