Date / 30th April 2009
9.00am – 11.00am
Venue / Committee Room 5 - 17th Floor
Westminster City Hall
64 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 6QP
Minutes
Present / Hayley Regan (Chair)
Kieran Fitsall
Mark Philip
John Crosk
Mike Bracey
Sumati Sharma
Robin Parr Davies
Charles Omotayo
Natalie Chapman
Laurence Laver
Chris Clements
Keith Abbott
Jerry Ward
Joe Dack
Ian Johnson
Agata Tomanek
Rhys Roberts / Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council
Argos Home Delivery (DHL)
Tradeteam
Brewery Logistics Group
NCP Services (NSL)
Triangle
UPS
Freight Transport Association
TFL (FORS)
TFL (FORS)
Clean Services
John Lewis
Transport of London
Iron Mountain
KNDL
TNT
Apologies / Amy Hefford
Robert Mclarty
Frazer Praag
Richard Currie
Simon Weeks
Alan Clarke / Wine and Spirit Association
Keystone Foods
KNDL
UPS
Wincanton
King UK
Item 1 / Welcome, introduction and apologies
Hayley Regan welcomed everyone to the meeting, requested introductions around the table and accepted apologies.
Item 2 / Minutes of the last Meeting
It was agreed that the minutes were circulated in time and that everybody received a copy and also agreed to the previous minutes.
Item 3 / Business Account Manger Role – update
HR advised that her role is now being part funded by the Freight Transport Association; she will carry out her duties very much the same as when she was part funded by the brewery logistics group.
Item 4 / NSL Open Day – Feedback
HR organised a two day session with NSL where there was the opportunity to go out with CEO for a couple of hours and ask questions to NSL staff from various departments. In total 40 companies participated, each received a welcome pack which included Westminster enforcement protocol, unloading and loading code of practise and NSL company information pack. HR explained that the feedback from the open day had been really positive and each company gained a valuable insight into the role of a CEO. Some concerns were raised about the number of PCNs that were being issued whilst out on street as some issued no PCNs at all. HR explained that the areas that they went were mostly residential and that all the vehicles were parked correctly. It was asked if they could go out again but from the West End base and if they could attend the briefing sessions and spend more time out, as it was felt that 2 hours was not long enough. HR to arrange this with NSL and then send out details to all companies.
Some example of the positive feedback from the companies who attended: -
“Just a quick line to thank you for yesterday, we found it very interesting. The time we had out with your CEO was a real eye opener and gave us both an insight into the complexity of there jobs and the personnel abuse that they receive on a daily basis. We now know that CEO’s aren’t out there just to hinder / hit targets / cause confrontation as we previously probably surmised. Again thanks for an informative and pleasant day.”
“I just wanted to thank you for the level of insight given at the open day. It was most helpful, particularly going outside with a CEO. I now feel I understand a little better the rules and regulations regarding waiting times and the issuing of tickets.”
“Just a quick note to say thank you for the open day at NCP I thought it was very useful, please pass on my thanks to the young lady who showed us round, her knowledge was very good. Once again many thanks.”
Action /
- HR to organise an NSL open day, once dates are confirmed HR will send out invites to the group. They will be for July, August and September from the Lexington base. This will involve attending the briefing session, either a morning or afternoon with the CEO.
Item 5 / Freight Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) - update
HR explained that we have leaflets from TFL on FORS, which were distributed to the group. Laurence Laver for TFL, Interim FORS Assistant Manager spoke about where we are with FORS. He explained that there are 225 members, of those 125 have been Bronze certified. That relates to 661 Depots and 22,000 vehicles. They will be running a benchmarking session on 21st May 2009 which HR has requested to attend. There is also a PCN workshop on 16th June which HR is attending.
Action /
- HR to arrange a meeting with FORS to look at bench marking for Bronze, Silver and Gold.
- HR to attend the FORS benchmarking course on 21st May 2009.
Item 6 / Tottenham Court Road Project and update on the Olympics 2012
The Tottenham Court Road project started in January and is currently affecting the streets in Camden. This will have an impact on the streets of Westminster but not until next year, any information that arises regarding this will be sent out to you. HR explained that she has recently attended a meeting with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) organised by the FTA, the aim of the meeting was to establish an Olympic Freight Group. The first meeting will be in June, HR will attend, the meeting will be to establish who’s who, mapping on critical dates for delivery, strategy for communicating with freight stakeholders, update on logistics plans for construction phase, and integration with other works such as the Crossrail. HR is to feedback any information that will be relevant to the group. Also the group were advised if they had any questions or concerns that they could speak to HR who could then raise these at the Olympic Freight Group. There were concerns around displacement of the vehicles who would be avoiding the Olympic network route.
Action /
- HR to inform the group of any relevant information from the Olympic Freight Group.
Item 7 / Vertex – update
HR advised that they have appointed a new team in Dingwall; there are 8 new full time staff. HR is looking to streamline the process of challenges and have a dedicated team in Dingwall to look after commercial operators. HR will write a procedure and pilot this for one month with a few members of the CDG group. She will report back to the group on her findings with the intention of implementing this system in August 2009. Also it was mentioned in previous meetings whether there could be a represented from Vertex, Dave Robson will now be attending the meetings on behalf of Vertex and be able to answer and questions your may have on the challenge process.
Action /
- HR to run a pilot for one month in August using a few CDG members to streamline the challenge process
Item 8 / Motorcycle Parking Scheme
Kieran Fitsall advised the group that there will be a motorcycle protest on 11th May 2009 where they plan to ‘lay siege to London’ and ‘bring any 4 wheel transport to a standstill’. This has come about as Westminster has started charging motorbikes £1.50 a day to park; the group considered this a small price to pay to park in central London. The group’s view was that the demonstration represented a serious threat to their ability to go about their trade and that as a group they should write to the campaign organisers urging them to cancel the demonstration. The group asked if a template letter could be drafted.
Action /
- HR to send out template letter to the group
Item 9 / AOB
HR went around the room and there was no other business to discuss.
Date of next meeting
The next meeting of the Commercial Delivery Group will be held on Wednesday 9th September 2009, Committee Room 5, 17th Floor, Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, London.
Minutes circulated Thursday 14th May 2009