Agenda and minutes

In the absence of Councillor Rosemary Healy (Chair) Councillor John Ogle (Vice Chair) chaired the meeting.

Councillor Sam Gardiner   – Council Business

Councillor Rosemary Healy   – Council Business

None.

Minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2021 for confirmation

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 December 2022 were confirmed as a true record and were signed by the Chair presiding at the meeting.

Report of the Head of Operations, Nottingham Trams

Trevor Stocker, Head of Operations, Nottingham Trams, introduced the NET Operational Performance and Progress update to the Committee. The following points were highlighted:

(a)  The spread of the Omicron variant of Covid 19 presented a challenge for Nottingham Trams as it affected staff availability. Services were affected, and Sunday timetables had to be introduced for a short while, however normal timetables were restored as soon as full staffing levels were maintained;

(b)  Severn Trent contacted the network to advice of emergency works in the Lenton area which would have an impact on services. Work was carried out with the least disruption and replacement bus services made available where needed;

(c)  At the end of January a large fire on the Dunkirk industrial estate caused congestion around the city due to road closures and services were affected by this. The incident was resolved and normal services were resumed;

(d)  The roll out of the new ticket vending machines has been completed successfully. These machines are more user friendly, and the larger screens allow key messages to be displayed to customers;

(e)  Partnership working continues to be a strong element for the Tram Network. Work is taking place with partners to tackle anti-social behaviour on the network, and Nottinghamshire Police are working with the network to raise awareness and increase safety of female passengers as part of the Safer Streets campaign;

(f)  In December a ceremony was held to unveil a tram named after Professor Sir Martyn Poliakoff;

(g)  Track renewal work is in pre planning stages and is likely to take place toward the end of July. These works will take place in two locations, Hyson Green Market on the curved section of track, and the north end of the Forest platform. Whilst these works are completed there will be no service running between Wilkinson Street and the Forest. A bus replacement service will be available at these times.

The Committee noted the information provided within the update. 

Update from the Chief Operating Officer, Tramlink Nottingham

Andrew Conroy, Chief Operating Officer, Tramlink Nottingham gave a verbal update to the Committee. He highlighted the following points:

(a)  As part of Tramlink’s 18^th birthday celebrations the Community Hero Tram has been reinstated, nominations were made from across the City, and the  judging panel was made up of Natalie Fahy, Editor of the Evening Post, Avarni Bilan, Director of Flygirl and Wigflex, Nadia Whitam, MP, Tim Hesketh, CEO of Tramlink and Professor Sir Martin Poliakoff;

(b)  The panel were unable to pick just one winner from the impressive field and so two people were named as the winners. These were, Bill Chambers, who has worked with the community in St Ann’s for around 50 years and Ben Rosser, the Chief Executive of the Pythian Club that works with young people to help them find alternative ways to spend time than on the streets. The Tram will be named after them both;

(c)  From the 21^st March there will be a period of zero tolerance on fare evasion. Key partners and education establishments have been notified of this initiative. The Revenue Protection Team will be doubled and there has been an extensive education program for customers in the lead up. There will also be a strong campaign running across the network during this period reminding customers of the need to purchase a ticket before travelling;

(d)  During this period of zero tolerance all staff will still be cognisant of the policy around Vulnerable people and the Network’s approach to working with them will not be altered;

(e)  During this campaign a proportion of any penalty fare will be donated to charities helping Ukraine refugees;

(f)  A project is underway to working with a number of schools along the Network to develop a product for school children that is easier on the parent’s pockets and more flexible than the traditional season ticket. This is aimed at school children whose travel habits vary and don’t necessarily always use the tram to travel to or from school;

(g)  Revenue and patronage over the last two to three weeks has picked up as businesses return to working from offices. One point to note is that patronage is far more vulnerable to bad weather now. Covid has made home working easier, so choosing not to go out to work at the office on a rainy day is easier;

(h)  A season ticket has been developed in conjunction with Nottingham Forest Football Club to allow customers to travel into the city for home games. A campaign will be jointly run to encourage both home and away fans not to drive to the stadium and use public transport instead. It is envisaged that a similar product will be developed for Notts County Football supporters and cricket fans at Trent Bridge;

(i)  A fare increase will be introduced in the upcoming weeks. Fares will increase on the single fare by 20p (8% rise) and by 30p on day tickets (6.8% rise). There will be a 6% rise on average across all ticket costs. These increases will cover costs such as increase in prices of fuel and general running costs;

During questions and discussion the following points were highlighted:

(j)  Fares and any prospective changes to them are modelled extensively before implementation. The fare increases being introduced take into account the costs of running the tram network, which has increased significantly;

(k)  To mitigate these rises work is taking place with the DWP to introduce discounted tickets for the first year of employment, with the option to extend the discount beyond that first year Tickets will be discounted by 50% for attendance at job interviews, and free tickets will be available for people attending jobs fairs.

(l)  Before the Christmas period a discount ticket was made available for low paid workers to encourage them back into the city centre, and additional discounts were made available to NHS workers. The network has also partnered up with the Bluelight Card scheme offering discounts and discounted services to Bluelight emergency workers;

(m)Fare evasion is tracked continuously, it currently sits around 6.8% and the target is 5% and below. It is hoped that the zero tolerance event in the coming weeks will drive the number down and further increase awareness with passengers;

(n)  Committee members highlighted the importance of targeting times and stops where there was a high number of passengers for the most effective use of the Revenue Protection team and questioned whether CCTV could be used more effectively to help reduce the number of passengers not buying tickets. Both Trevor and Andrew agreed that specific targeting would be helpful. They confirmed that the CCTV had been upgrade to high definition footage across the network, but given the wide variety of tickets available to customers it would not be possible to track network users who did not buy tickets with CCTV;

(o)  Events will be taking place on the Network to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee later in the year. Plans have not yet been finalised and any suggestions or input from Committee Members are always welcomed;

The Committee agreed that further discussion should take place around the format of subsequent meetings and that this should be done outside of the formal committee.

The Committee noted the content of the verbal update provided by Andrew Conroy, Chief Operating Officer, Tramlink Nottingham.

Verbal

Andrew Holdstock, Senior Project Engineer, NET confirmed that no issues regarding the Network or the running of the Trams had been raised by the public or by Committee members since the last meeting.

There was extensive discussion around the format of subsequent meetings. Some Committee members felt that the Committee should be setting an example and returning to face to face meetings and supporting public transport and local businesses. Other Committee members felt that returning to face to face meetings limited participation and were in favour of continuing with online meetings for the time being taking into account the rising numbers of Covid cases in the community. All feedback will be taken away, and the possibility of hybrid meetings considered;

Committee members asked if enough was being done to advertise this avenue of feedback and asked for an update.

Kate Morris, Governance Officer presented the Work Plan confirming that at the time of publication of the agenda there were no items included.

Reports for the 22/23 Municipal calendar will appear on the Work Plan at the next meeting, including annual reports such as the Safeguarding Policy.

Committee members suggested adding a report on the activities for the Queen’s Jubilee onto the Work Programme to focus attention.

The Committee noted the next date for the Committee, Tuesday 12 July 2022 at 2pm. Arrangements regarding in person / virtual attendance will be circulated closer to the time.