Rail franchise performance meeting minutes - 12 November 2020
Attendees
- Oi Hang Chu (OHC) Transport Scotland
- Allan Anderson (AA) Transport Scotland
- William Clark (WC) Transport Scotland
- Katie Sutton (KS) Transport Scotland
- Louise Robertson (LR) Transport Scotland
- Mark Henderson (MH) Transport Scotland
- Nicola Dawson (ND) ScotRail
- Sam Price (SAP) ScotRail
- James Ledgerwood (JL) ScotRail
- Phil Dargue (PD) Winer Phillips
Apologies
- Hilary Cameron (HC) Transport Scotland
- Julie Watson (JW) Transport Scotland
Welcome and Introductions
AA introduced the meeting and thanked SR colleagues for the reporting pack. William Clark from Transport Scotland attended the meeting as his work area covers Community involvement.
LR will arrange for future meetings to be scheduled via MS teams.
Minutes of last meeting - 15 October 2020
Minutes from last meeting all agreed and taken as read by both TS/SR.
Actions from previous meeting
No comments from TS/SR.
Deep Dive Presentation - Community Initiatives during COVID-19
James Ledgerwood gave a presentation on ASR community initiatives during COVID-19.
The ASR community team has been working with community partners since the start of lockdown. A more detailed report about the team's work during lockdown has been circulated.
The team remit covers community engagement activity such as station adoption. They are also involved in charity partnerships, active travel, transport integration and tourism development.
The initial response to the pandemic was to engage with communities and offer support. During the summer community partners were assisted to safely restart activities where possible. The team are now looking forward to how they can help communities in the recovery phase and considering the longer term implications of the pandemic.
The priorities for the team during the pandemic have been communicating and engaging with partners, supporting safe working for volunteers and colleagues, utilising available resources, sharing information with community groups and safely maintaining activities where possible.
Community Rail and volunteering
CRP volunteers have, in some cases, been involved in wider community work during the pandemic, for example assisting the vulnerable.
The team is active in the National Community Rail Round Table group. The team have also been working towards 'Investing in Volunteers' accreditation during lockdown.
Schools engagement has been maintained where possible. The team have been involved in promoting positive messages about the use of face coverings on those services used by school pupils.
JL will share the minutes of the round table group and the presentation slides. JL will also pass on details of the number of schools engaging with ASR in response to COVID to WC.
Charities and Partnerships
Charities have had their usual events and activities cancelled during lockdown and this has impacted fundraising. ASR has supported virtual events for charity partners using social media platforms.
Transport Integration and Active Travel
There has been increased interest in active travel during the pandemic. The team worked to provide a single information source (Traveline Scotland) for customers, especially key workers, during the early part of lockdown.
Economic Development and Tourism
The team are involved in a range of initiatives to relaunch tourism and leisure travel when it is safe to do so. The team is involved in the station regeneration fund work at Stow, Kilmarnock and Saltcoats. They also have a role in the task groups for Levenmouth and Ayr Hotel.
The team has been involved in encouraging the wider business to consider the issues laid out in the National Outcomes.
CRP’s continue to meet virtually where possible.
Review of EMA Reporting Pack
TS colleagues have reviewed pack and shared queries with SR to provide responses and supporting evidence as required.
Committed Obligations Review
The spreadsheet from OHC is currently being reviewed within ASR.
Franchise Performance Report - Any Matters Arising
No comments from TS/SR.
Format of Future FPM/EMA Meetings
It was suggested that there may be an opportunity for TS colleagues to have issues they wish to raise added to the circulated FPM agenda. This would allow ASR time to provide a response or invite an appropriate colleague to the meeting to speak if necessary.
TS and ASR will both consider how franchise performance meetings could be made more productive. It would be worthwhile discussing possible consolidation of meetings between TS and ASR at the same time as these are related issues.
AOB
No further comments from TS/SR.