Train Drivers, Bus Services, a Posh Car Wash & African Boarding Schools

Regular readers (and anyone who has ever worked with me) will know that I frequently bang on about the need to ‘get out from behind your desk’ and see the world through the eyes of those who are not in the Whitehall bubble. But it can be equally valuable to read blogs and articles written by or about those on the receiving end of HMG’s policies. Here, by way of example, is a selection that recently caught my eye.

The first is a blog by Roger French (aka “Bus and Train User”) who offers an interesting explanation, by a train driver, of “Why a position that pays £60,000 per annum is short of people”. It’s a good question and, if you follow this link, you may find that the train driver makes some surprising points.

That blog links in turn to another article by Mr French who was not impressed by a recent public transport announcement by then Secretary of State Louise Haig:

[She] reckons Transport for London (TfL) delivers “one of the most efficient, affordable and sustainable transport networks in the world” and that it is “living proof” passengers “do not have to put up with a broken bus system.” Her choice of “efficient” as a descriptor is interesting. It’ll be an eye opener if officials at the DfT showed her TfL’s costs compared with [several other parts of the country which have seen consistent growth in fare paying passenger numbers attracted by quality bus services provided by commercially and community minded bus companies]. … The “bus system” is certainly not “broken” in the aforementioned areas.

He also suggests (emphasis added) that …

There’s a strongly held view in the rail industry that the driver shortage … underpins many of the current unsatisfactory issues, not least the sensitivity of trade union relations and staff ability and willingness to work overtime. The current fragility of weekend travel is unsustainable. So much depends on voluntary overtime it’s become a lottery whether you’ll be able to travel. … What’s needed is a clear idea of the extent of the driver shortage. No one knows at the moment, because no one dare ask. The real issue is there’s no incentive for those TOCs still in the private sector to spend money on the costly process of recruitment and training of new drivers with their current management contracts destined for the history books as nationalisation looms.

I trust that none of the above views came as a surprise to those currently working in the Department for Transport, including Transport Minister Lord Hendy. But awareness of such widely read blogs will no doubt help them design future communications.

Changing the subject, Home Office and Department for Education colleagues might have been intrigued when they saw this advert for the Battersea Power Wash which is “situated within the iconic Battersea Power Station [and] has been providing premier services, for London's most discerning vehicle owners, since 2019.”

Why Home Office and Education? The advert is in Vauxhall where there are now several large blocks of high end student accommodation (one of them is in the photo) in part occupied by very rich Chinese students, some of whom drive Lamborghinis (or whatever the car is in the advert). London universities and local businesses (including Battersea Power Wash) are no doubt very grateful for the resultant inflow of Renminbi.

And, finally, I was intrigued by this recent article in the Times:

The back story is that quite a few London parents of African or Caribbean heritage send their children to African Boarding Schools so as to insulate them from London gangs. The kids grow wise to this, of course, so they need to be taken to Africa when they are around nine or ten. Teenagers are more likely to kick up a fuss and have been known to tell check-in staff that they are being abducted. The 13-year-old in the above story is resisting in a different way.

Martin Stanley