A blog about Wirral Council, Wirral Council's councillors & officers
A blog about Wirral Council's public meetings, Wirral Council's councillors, Bidston & St. James ward and other public bodies on Merseyside
Why did Merseytravel pay for flights to Tokyo costing £4,357.92?
Invoices exclusively published on this blog show that Merseytravel spent £4,357.92 on British Airways return flights from London (Heathrow) to Tokyo (Narita) travelling out on the 16th May 2016 and returning on the 20th May 2016. One of the three passengers was senior manager David Powell and the costs were charged to the Rolling Stock Programme.
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2 further days of strike action on Merseyrail network in October by RMT over driver only operated trains
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has announced further strike action on the Merseyrail network. Drivers and guards will be on strike on the 3rd October 2017 and 5th October 2017.
RMT stated that it was angry and frustrated that Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Mayor Steve Rotheram had refused to put pressure on Merseyrail to resolve the dispute.
At a meeting of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority last week (which is chaired by Mayor Steve Rotheram) the industrial dispute between Merseyrail and the RMT was discussed towards the end of a Merseyrail Update item.
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Liverpool City Region Combined Authority 15th September 2017 Part 2 of 4 Merseyrail Update
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Liverpool City Region Combined Authority 15th September 2017 Merseyrail Update (slides)
Various proposals made by the RMT, such as increasing fares to cover the cost of the guards when the new trains are introduced or Merseytravel paying for the salaries of the guards were rejected.
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3 further days of strike action on Merseyrail network over driver only operated trains
Talks between the RMT union, LCRCA Mayor Steve Rotheram, Cllr Liam Robinson and Frank Rogers have not averted three days of strike action on the Merseyrail network planned for Friday 1st September, Sunday 3rd September and Monday 4th September.
The dispute is about the introduction of trains in 2020 which will be operated solely by a driver rather than a driver and a guard.
Trains will not be running between Hooton and Ellesmere Port on the three strike days.
Details of the reduced service running to a strike timetable are on Merseyrail’s website. There will be a period of a few hours during the middle of the day when no trains on the Merseyrail network will run.
Merseyrail trains on the following routes that usually stop at stations on the Wirral will not be stopping at the following stations.
New Brighton to Liverpool & Liverpool to New Brighton
Moorfields, Lime Street and Liverpool Central
West Kirby to Liverpool & Liverpool to West Kirby
Bidston*, Manor Road, Birkenhead Park, Conway Park, Moorfields, Lime Street and Liverpool Central
*Arriva Trains Wales trains on the Bidston-Wrexham line will still be stopping at Bidston on strike days.
Chester to Liverpool & Liverpool to Chester
Bache, Bromborough Rake, Capenhurst, Chester, Eastham Rake, Moorfields, Lime Street and Liverpool Central
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What are Merseytravel’s legal fees to defend a legal challenge to the £272 million rolling stock contract?
During the 2016-17 audit (which covers the start of April 2016 to the end of March 2017), I requested to inspect various invoices paid by Merseytravel and the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and have since picked up copies from their headquarters.
In December 2016, a large rolling stock contract (for new trains) was agreed by councillors on the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to be awarded to Stadler Bussnang AG. Stadler Bussnang AG will charge £272,424,952.00 for the new trains.
An unsuccessful bidder (Bombardier) brought a challenge to how the procurement decision had been arrived at and large invoices for legal work from DLA Piper UK LLP have been submitted to Merseytravel’s Rolling Stock Director (David Powell).
The thumbnails of invoices below each link to a higher resolution image for the same invoice.
Invoice 413 from DLA Piper UK LLP (invoice 54833489) dated 31st January 2017 is for £231,124.96. This is for the matter, “Fleet Replacement Project”. This is broken down to “To our fees for professional services” of £187,013.80 + VAT, followed by the following expenses, search fees (£2.00 + VAT), subsistence (£152.68 + VAT), travel (£5,195.65 + VAT) and Vroom Plus (£240 + VAT).
Why will Merseyrail services be disrupted on the 8th, 10th and 23rd July 2017 due to strike action?
Merseyrail employees who are part of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) are striking on Saturday 8th July 2017, Monday 10th July 2017 and Sunday 23rd July 2017.
Although Merseyrail are hoping to run to a reduced timetable on strike days (which means Merseyrail trains will not stop at many stations on the Wirral and be less frequent at the others) the entire train network was known to be stopped completely on a strike day earlier this year in March for safety reasons.
Trains on the Bidston to Wrexham Central line which is run by Arriva Trains Wales won’t be affected by this strike. Although people planning to connect at Bidston to a Merseyrail train during one of the three strike days will be.
There is also a strike by Northern Rail staff planned for the 8th July 2017, 9th July 2017 and 10th July 2017 which will result in a reduced service (on Merseyside this is generally services that go to and from Liverpool Lime Street). Further details on their reduced timetable are on Northern Rail’s website.
The Merseyrail and Northern Rail strikes are caused by a dispute between employers and the union over new trains in 2020 which will be staffed only by a driver and not a driver and guard as at present.
The lost revenue to Merseyrail during each strike day is estimated by the RMT union at £139,000 a day (plus the cost of contingency arrangements).
Under the franchise agreement between Merseytravel and Merseyrail, the public sector will pay Merseyrail for the lost profits due to industrial action.
So for the three strike days this is estimated at £417,000 (plus contingency arrangements) paid for out of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority budget (who control Merseytravel).
Last year in a private meeting councillors on the LCRCA Merseytravel Committee and Council Leaders on the LCRCA agreed to the contract for new trains.
On Monday 10th July (one of the strike days) Liverpool City Council’s Constitutional Issues Committee meets to decide on a recommendation to pay the Chair of the Merseytravel Committee Cllr Liam Robinson £29,983 a year for his role on the Merseytravel Committee (in addition to amounts he receives as a Liverpool City Council councillor).
Cllr Liam Robinson is also the portfolio holder for Transport on the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority which meets next week on Friday 14th July 2017.
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