It has been shown on many different issues that TFL will never act in accordance with Public Law; it is human nature that people will often do what they can get away with. It is clearly the case that no one seems to hold TFL or The Mayor to account so they will continue to act in the same way until action is taken to stop them.
We have seen what it is blatantly corrupt and unlawful action yet absolutely nothing is done. In fact not only is no action taken by the powers that be, but the media seems to deliberately avoid exposing what is taking place. I have spoken to many journalists about these issues and have been told that investigations are ongoing, but there seems to be something happening to stop the issues being widely reported.
David Cameron said last week that his number one objective for 2012 is to help Boris get re-elected. Surely the Prime Minister should be focussed on more important issues than getting his buddy re-elected ? He has recently criticised cronyism yet he is the worst culprit. Boris has an appalling record as Mayor; The Environmental Audit Committee gave a damming report about emissions in London , which have caused more than 4000 deaths and these deaths are directly attributable to the Mayors unlawful and improper strategies.
TFL has existed unchecked as a corrupt body which receives £9.6 billion a year in public funds yet is accountable to no one; the Government says The Mayor is responsible and he does nothing so is it the case that he is either grossly incompetent or as corrupt as TFL themselves ?.
The Mayor has implemented an Age Limit which will see many older owner drivers being put out of work. Many of these drivers were relying on the last couple of years of work or on part time work as their pension. Those drivers are now out of work without a pension; surely they deserve the support of the entire taxi trade?
The Age Limit strategy is aimed at reducing emissions and yet it will do nothing to reduce emissions. The Mayor has done this with no research and his decisions are unlawful. He seems to forget that it is the drivers themselves who are exposed to the pollution in London more than anyone else; they are sat in it for many hours every day of their working life. Taxi drivers are as keen as anyone to improve emissions but would surely want cost effective strategies put in place which will actually reduce emissions;
- A peak time delivery ban could stop commercial vehicles from blocking London’s streets. If commercial vehicles delivered at off peak times then their emissions could be reduced by 80% because emissions are caused when a vehicle stops and starts. Instead of banning deliveries at peak times TFL has banned night time deliveries-the exact opposite of what needed to be done.
- Stop smaller delivery and other vehicles from blocking a lane of traffic. How many times have you seen a huge tailback of traffic caused by a van or truck making a delivery without a care in the world for the hundreds of people they are holding up ? This situation creates a huge amount of pollution yet TFL continue to allow it to happen
- Manage roadwork’s in a more effective way. How many times have you sat in a tailback for a long time only to find the cause is a section of road closed with no actual work taking place or if there is work taking place it comprises of a couple of guys leaning on their shovel? Roadworks should be carried out off peak with a sense of urgency.
- Proper and effective emissions projects for taxis instead of half baked ideas which only exist for political gain.
The Mayor continues to insult the intelligence of taxi drivers. He seems to forget that taxi drivers have to take the knowledge test; something that many people including him may not have the brain power to do. He seems to forget that as a result of the stringent requirements to be a London Taxi driver that they have an excellent worldwide reputation for providing a professional service, which many other capital cities do not have the benefit of. He seems to forget that it was the support of the thousands of taxi drivers with their ’Back Boris ‘ campaign which helped him to get elected.
Perhaps it is time for London Taxi drivers to remind him of these things?
Perhaps a ‘ Sack Boris’ campaign and a campaign to support a Mayoral candidate who is going to address the serious issues of the improper action of TFL and support the taxi drivers in return?
Perhaps it is time for the London Taxi Trade to unite and take action to make sure that the corrupt and improper actions of The Mayor and TFL are reported fully?
Perhaps a mass demonstration with the sole purpose of exposing the Mayor and TFL for what they are is what is needed?
A Clear Strategy Behind A Demo....by David Davies.
London Taxi Drivers are being subjected to many improper and unlawful decisions by TFL which include access to the Olympic Routes, the Age Limit on Taxis and failed enforcement and regulation of private hire law to name but a few.
The crux of the matter is not these individual issues by themselves, it is the body that is making these improper and unlawful decisions; Transport for London.
There seems to be an identity crisis at TFL.
It had an annual budget for 2010-11 of £9.6 BILLION of taxpayers’ money yet it seems to think of itself as a private corporation which is not subject to any of the legal requirements for the conduct of a public body. It is required by law to conduct proper research and have a proper process to make decisions and about its policies and practices. It is clear that TFL has not done this on many occasions, which is not an opinion it’s a fact.
A good example is the Age Limit.
The Department of Transport advises against an age limit because there is no evidence that older vehicles create more pollution. TFL have conducted absolutely no testing to show that older taxis create more pollution and in fact by their own standards they say that all taxis are at least Euro 3, which means that 16000 taxis are Euro 3 and the rest Euro 4. How can it therefore be a proper and legal decision to implement an age limit when TFL has not complied with the legal process to make that decision?
In addition TFL allows many improper situations to exist.
An example of this is the fact that, Bob Oddy who was supposed to represent the interests of the LTDA and challenge TFL on issues that his organisation and members objects to, is a MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF TFL where he is supposed to represent the Taxi trade as a whole. How can that possibly not be a conflict of interest?
Confidentiality agreement.
I have recently been told that when PCO staff were made redundant they were forced to sign a confidentiality agreement to prevent them disclosing information about improper conduct that had taken place.
How can it be correct practice for a Public Body to effectively bribe ex employees to keep quiet?
The demonstrations therefore should not be about any one unlawful or improper decision that has been made. It should be about the unlawful and improper organisation that has made them; TFL.
If the demonstrations continue to be about any one individual bad decision or policy implemented by TFL then all that will ever happen is that compromised solutions will be made to appease the Taxi Drivers for these individual issues. That is all well and good until the next bad decision.
Reason behind Demo.
The campaign needs to be for a complete regime change at TFL.
It needs to call for the sacking of its chairman, Boris Johnston.
Taxi Drivers helped the election campaign for Boris in 2008, in the hope that he would deliver fair and proper decisions and policies.
I want to deliver those changes that Londoners, and visitors to the city, tell us they want to see: a cleaner city with safer streets, better transport, and good quality affordable housing.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson
Setting the vision and developing strategies to deliver it
The Mayor is in charge of setting the overall vision for the capital and draws up strategies and policies to deliver the vision.’’
The Mayor has repaid the Taxi Drivers support by implementing strategies and policies which have had a direct negative impact on Taxi Drivers. As chairman of TFL he has allowed LTPH to act improperly and not enforce proper enforcement of Private Hire regulations. He has conducted a report which says 4267 people a year are dying from pollution in London and that 30% of that is attributable to Taxis. He has implemented no proper strategies to improve emissions in London, there are many things that could be done to significantly reduce emissions in a simple and common sense way.
1. A peak time delivery ban could stop commercial vehicles from blocking London’s streets. If commercial vehicles delivered at off peak times then their emissions could be reduced by 80% because emissions are caused when a vehicle stops and starts. Instead of banning deliveries at peak times TFL has banned night time deliveries-the exact opposite of what needed to be done.
2. Stop smaller delivery and other vehicles from blocking a lane of traffic. How many times have you seen a huge tailback of traffic caused by a van or truck making a delivery without a care in the world for the hundreds of people they are holding up ? This situation creates a huge amount of pollution yet TFL continue to allow it to happen
3. Manage roadwork’s in a more effective way. How many times have you sat in a tailback for a long time only to find the cause is a section of road closed with no actual work taking place or if there is work taking place it comprises of a couple of guys leaning on their shovel? Roadworks should be carried out off peak with a sense of urgency.
These are just a few examples of what could be done.
Instead Boris is implementing ridiculous and ineffective strategies like an age limit or taxi idling which will have no effect on reducing emissions.
The Mayor has used PR to create the impression that Taxis are creating pollution and he is going to clean it up. He has actually mocked London Assembly members when they have challenged him on his failed emissions strategies. He is mocking the taxi drivers who helped him get elected by the decisions he has implemented.
The Taxi drivers need to use PR to show that they are the people suffering from his flawed emissions strategies; they sit in this pollution day in day out and are keen to clean it up but want to do so in an effective way.
Taxi Drivers need to have a clear and defined strategy as to what they are demonstrating about. In my view it should be to campaign for The Chairman of TFL (Boris) to be sacked and for a Public Inquiry into his failed strategies which have resulted in 4267 deaths each year from pollution.
He has overseen the improper and unlawful conduct of TFL. He is the person that is ultimately responsible and he is the person that Taxi Drivers should make the subject of their campaign. One of the reasons that the Taxi trade has not successfully challenged TFL is because it has not been united. If a particular issue does not affect a driver then he will not campaign against it.
The fact is that the conduct of the Mayor in allowing TFL to make improper and unlawful decisions will affect every single Taxi Driver in some way and that is why he needs to be the subject of any campaign. I am sure if this is done then the Taxi Demonstrations will receive huge support from the media and public.
Instead of the demonstrations being seen as an inconvenience they will be seen as a valid objective for people who want to see the cleaner and safer London that Mayor promised and has not delivered.
Please see the article below written in 2009 highlighting the improper pay at TFL . It was then reported this year the figure for TFL employees earning more than £100k had risen to 379. It has increased significantly after previous assurances were given 2 years ago that this would be addressed.The pay of tube drivers is cut and the number of employees paid in excess of £100k is increased by a huge margin? This is a clear indicator that TFL is not managed in compliance of Public Law and the question again is why?
In my view TFL is corrupt and should be exposed.
Link to recent article showing 379 TFL £100k a year employees
15 TfL managers earn more than PM
The Standard has learned that 163 TfL officials were paid six-figure salaries in 2008/9 - 40 more than the previous year.
The figure will be contained in the organisation's annual report, to be published on Tuesday.
When staff at Metronet and Crossrail - also now part of TfL - are included, the number of six-figure-earners rises to 231, almost double what it was two years ago.
TfL's top earner last year - Commissioner Peter Hendy - collected a base salary and bonus of £494,884, or £9,500 a week.
This is more than twice as much as the then Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, and almost four times as much as the Mayor. Mr Hendy's bonus alone was £146,440, more than the Mayor's entire salary.
Freedom of Information requests by the Evening Standard established that 15 TfL managers, including the director of marketing, earn more than the Prime Minister.
Of the 46 most highly paid officials, only 16 are directly involved in operating services.
The number of TfL staff earning over £50,000 has also risen from 1,954 to 2,565 in a year. When Metronet and Crossrail are included, the number of £50,000 earners goes up to 4,204, a seventh of the workforce.
The new figures are likely to prove highly embarrassing as TfL fights a damaging pay dispute with Tube drivers, which led to the strike last week.
Even TfL's 2007/8 total of big earners was condemned as "excessive". That year the Treasury, responsible for the entire UK economy, employed only 15 staff on salaries of £100,000 or above.
TfL today blamed an above-inflation pay deal agreed by the previous Mayor, Ken Livingstone, for the dramatic rises and said that the salaries of Mr Hendy and other top managers had been frozen in the current financial year.
Their bonus pot has also been reduced. Several hundred TfL staff are affected by the freeze.
Mr Johnson said: "In these tough economic times, it is right to freeze the salaries of TfL's management and reduce bonus levels."
But he defended the rises of previous years, saying: "It is also right that TfL has the calibre of people needed to deliver a huge work programme, including upgrading the Tube and building Crossrail."
TfL said that the number of six-figure earners represented only 0.8 per cent of its 28,000 workforce and insisted that top salaries at the organisation had to compete with those paid at private-sector transport companies such as Stagecoach and First Group.
Mr Hendy said: "We continue to seek efficiencies across the organisation. It is vital we have an experienced and capable management team to deliver that."
TfL has said it is committed to finding £2.4billion of savings over the next nine years.
The target has caused clashes with the workforce, with Tube unions claiming that up to 3,000 jobs could be axed and demanding a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.
The whole operations of London Underground and TFL needs to be scrutinised,there have also been rumours of corruption around contracts for many years.
Andrew,as a respected and feared investigative journalist Londoners would want you to take this on.
- James Connolly, London ,England, 19/06/2009 10:25
I would like to give further evidence about corruption at TFL.
1/ There are ex PCO employees who objected to the improper practices and were moved out of their jobs. They can provide evidence of corruption.
2/ A High Court Judge ruled the PCO had made unlawful decisions which constitutes Misconduct in Public Office (a criminal offence) and no action has ever been taken with regards to this. Why?
3/ There is a huge amount of documentary evidence that TFL does not comply with its legal requirements as a Public Body.
This has been reported but no action ever taken. Why?
4/ It has been recently been reported that 379 employees at TFL are paid in excess of £100k. This is not consistent with the lawful actions of a public body. How can this amount of money being paid to employees be justified at all let alone at a time of public spending cuts. Why is this allowed to happen?
5/ TFL consults with London taxi trade organisations. One is the LTDA and its representative Mr Bob Oddy, who is paid £30k a year by TFL. This is obviously a conflict of interest as Mr Oddy is supposed to represent the LTDA not TFL. How is this possibly correct practice?
6/ Eco-Power was vindictively persecuted by the PCO because we undercut suppliers of other systems who were closely affiliated with the PCO. The very people who were profiteering from the emissions systems in 2007/8 were the same people who were involved in consultative meetings with the PCO and are known to have close affiliations with them. How can it be correct practice for a public body to act in the best interests of commercial entities and not in the best interests of the public?
7/ TFL have announced an age limit for taxis but have conducted no proper testing or conducted no proper process to validate what they are doing. In fact the DFT advises local authorities against imposing age limits as it will be of no benefit to emissions and seen as arbitary.
The only people who will benefit from an age limit is 2 vehicle manufacturers who have publically declared that they will sell more taxis because of it. How can it be correct practice for a public body to implement a strategy on the basis of emissions reduction which will not actually reduce emissions and will only serve to give commercial benefit to 2 companies?
8/ The BBC filmed with a London Taxi 2 years ago to report the issues of illegal taxis in London. During the filming one illegal company claimed they had ‘Mason in their pocket’ John Mason is the director of London Taxi and Private Hire at TFL.
There have been many reports about possible corrupt action involving TFL and private hire companies, yet there is never any investigation of this. Why?
The United Cabbies Group are calling for a Public Inquiry into the corrupt, unlawful and improper conduct at TFL.
The only way that this corruption will be exposed is by a proper investigation being conducted by the media or by a Public Inquiry.
Regards Dave Davies
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