Thursday 18 October 2012

FT opines on DfT's brain drain

This from the Eminence Grise...

Perusing your amusing blog I was surprised that this gem from the Pink'un of the 3rd October had escaped your gimlet eye...

"Among admired repositories of institutional knowledge who have left since the government came to power are Mike Mitchell, director-general of railways, who was not replaced, and Jack Paine, formerly procurement director."

It will not surprise you to know that this sentence failed to make it into the print edition, which remains a paper of record.

TSC - A voice crying in the wilderness...

This from a Mr Tony Miles...

I found this Transport Select Committee report from 2009

It makes interesting reading in the light of recent events…

Highlights in the section headed 'Rail franchising—on track?' include:

3. In our 2006 report on passenger rail franchising, we concluded that the franchising system had failed to fulfil its objectives, and that it was nothing short of a "policy muddle". We were concerned that "the drive to extract premiums from some parts of the network will result in further above-inflation fare increases and a deterioration in customer service, investment and innovation". We argued that the Government needed to "conduct a strategic review of the long term needs of rail passengers, and an honest appraisal of the structure best suited to fulfil these needs over the next several decades". We urged the Government to ensure that this review be included in the 2007 Rail White Paper. The Government failed to do so, telling us that the system was "delivering" both good services and value for money.

7. As we said three years ago, the current system of rail franchising is a muddle.

12. As we have noted in the past, the process for awarding franchises along with the relative absence of significant risks for franchise holders tend to fuel very optimisitc bids.

19. The Government has argued that the difficulty of predicting revenue over 15 or 20 years militates against longer franchises,

21. The needs of passengers have not always been properly catered for within rail franchising contracts. The Government must ensure that franchises are more passenger-focused, and that commitments within existing franchise contracts are also enforced.


Clearly all of this was taken on board and informed the West Coast franchising process…

Eye commends this report to Richard Brown and hopes it will help inform his Review?