HOLYROOD AND WESTMINSTER DEBATE DOO

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/August 2016 :: RMTnews 9 Neil Bibby (West Scotland, Lab): To ask the First Minister what the Scottish government’s position is on the industrial dispute between the RMT and ScotRail. The First Minister (Nicola Sturgeon): I am extremely disappointed that we are seeing industrial action on our railways. It is, after all, the travelling public who lose out in such situations. I once again urge both parties to reopen meaningful discussions and work towards an agreement that prevents further strikes from going ahead. Safety is paramount in our rail network. Scottish ministers do not set ScotRail’s operational policy, but we expect employers and unions to arrive at a safe, efficient and customer-focused solution, and we believe that that can be done with no further strike action. A multiagency response team has operated on each of the strike dates and will do so if any more go ahead, and all modes of transport have continued to perform well. Neil Bibby: The First Minister knows that conductor operation guarantees passengers that a rail worker in addition to the driver will always be on a train to assist passengers, including in the event of an emergency. Can she tell us whether the Government believes that passengers will be at more risk or at less risk if there is an accident or incident and there is no longer a second rail worker to assist? In addition to safety concerns, does the First Minister believe that disabled passengers will be disadvantaged if they no longer have the guarantee of the assistance of a rail worker? The First Minister: Herein lies the complete misunderstanding of the issue that we are dealing with. The franchise mandates ScotRail to have a second member of staff on board each and every single train, unless there are exceptional circumstances. That is audited regularly. This is not an issue about whether there will no longer be a second member of staff on the train;this is an issue about whether it is drivers who open the doors. That policy of driver-controlled doors has been in operation on many of our rail services with no safety concerns for around 30 years. When I travelled from Irvine to Glasgow in my university days, the train was operated in that way. I repeat: this is emphatically not about having a situation in which there are not two members of staff on the train. If Labour wants to be helpful in the matter, it could start by understanding the issue and putting the right information out there—not the wrong information.” HOLYROOD AND WESTMINSTER DEBATE DOO At First Minsters Questions Nicola Sturgeon showed she did not understand that when you introduce DOO you lose the guarantee of a guard on every train. Or had she just showed which side she was on? At a Westminster debate Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Andy McDonald MP (Lab) told the government to nationalise Govia Rail and meet with RMT over DOO “GTR is widely recognised as the worst train operator in the country, following a sustained period of cancellations, lateness, worsening industrial relations and failed planning that makes a mockery of the Government’s regular sermons on the benefits of rail privatisation. There is cross- party consensus on the need for GTR to be stripped of the franchise.” “The Opposition would like to see our rail services back in public operation, but to ignore the clear evidence of the essential service protection that the public sector provides through the operator of last resort is entirely reckless.” “The government is committed to preserving the GTR franchise, whatever the cost to passengers, staff or the taxpayer. “The taxpayer is paying GTR an estimated £1.17 billion every year in management fees for this dysfunctional service, and that does not include the huge levels of investment in track and stations through publicly owned Network Rail every year, including the redevelopment of London Bridge. “Neither sickness levels nor industrial action are responsible for the misery that Southern commuters in particular have contended with for more than a year now. “The decline in industrial relations is a direct result of the close relationship between the Government and GTR. When senior civil servants are quoted at public meetings stating to passengers that they “have got to break” rail unions then the problem is entirely of the government’s making.” “Labour is clear that the government’s failure to include meaningful penalties in the franchise is at the root of GTR’s declining performance, we call on the government to strip GTR of the franchise. “Let me turn quickly to the current dispute. Even the industry-funded Rail Safety and Standards Board has acknowledged that driver-only operated services ‘may increase the likelihood of an event occurring or increase the severity of its consequence.’ “The issue is whether risks to passengers increase when things go wrong if passengers no longer have a binding safety guarantee from a second member of on-board staff who is fully trained in safety-critical procedures. GTR’s proposed new role of an on-board supervisor will not be that of a guard or a conductor; it will lack critical safety training in carriage and passenger protection in the event of an emergency incident. “GTR and the government have also claimed that there will be no deskilling or dumbing down as a result of the GTR proposals to extend DOO on Southern services, yet the Minister told members of the Transport Committee on Monday that no train that currently has a second person on board would lose that person, and that she would ensure that the safety-critical role is maintained. “We hope she will confirm today that that safety-critical role will be maintained over the life of this and future franchises. “I note that RMT offered to suspend its industrial action as long as GTR suspends the DOO extension plans. It surely makes sense now for the Minister to invite RMT to meet her at the earliest opportunity to discuss the terms of a settlement with GTR that would also apply to future franchises. “That should allow both parties time to reach a conclusion to this dispute, if not to the performance problems that have dogged GTR since its inception, which we believe can only be remedied by removal of the franchise,” he said. Responding in the debate Claire Perry said that she was “ashamed” to be rail minister and resigned two days later!