From Governance to Accountability: What Bee Network Has Taught Me About Bus Safety

Over the past year, I have submitted a number of Freedom of Information requests looking at bus safety, governance and accountability.

One of the most interesting strands has been my work around Transport for Greater Manchester and the Bee Network.

When I began, my questions were simple:

Who is responsible for bus safety?

What governance exists?

How is safety monitored?

The documents now disclosed by TfGM paint a much richer picture.

They show that bus safety under the Bee Network is supported by a detailed governance framework. This includes contractual requirements around safety management, incident reporting, operational control and contract management, together with committee structures responsible for reviewing safety performance.

Operators are required to maintain Safety Management Plans and Safety Management Systems.

They are also required to report on matters including collisions, passenger injuries, staff injuries, passenger assaults, staff assaults, RIDDOR incidents, serious operating incidents, near misses, Driver Quality Monitoring, Traffic Commissioner action and Health and Safety Executive enforcement activity.

TfGM’s Operational Control Centre also has defined responsibilities for responding to incidents and categorising them as Minor, Serious or Major, with procedures for escalation and post-incident review.

The Health, Safety and Environment Committee is tasked with reviewing accident investigations, significant incidents, audit findings, supplier performance and lessons learned.

Taken together, these documents show that a bus safety governance framework does exist.

But governance is only the beginning.

The question is no longer simply:

Does TfGM have bus safety governance?

The documents suggest it clearly does.

The more important question is:

How effectively is that governance operating in practice?

That is the next stage of my Freedom of Information work.

I now intend to ask for information showing how these arrangements are being used in practice, including:

committee minutes and papers;

safety dashboards and performance reports;

action trackers showing how recommendations are implemented;

lessons learned following incidents;

workforce and trade union engagement;

publication plans for bus safety data;

and evidence showing how TfGM measures whether safety is actually improving.

In other words, I am no longer asking whether the framework exists.

I am asking whether it delivers.

Although this work has focused on Greater Manchester, I believe the wider implications are national.

If franchising authorities are developing detailed contractual requirements around safety reporting, governance and accountability, should there now be a common national minimum standard?

Should passengers, workers and the public be able to expect the same level of transparency regardless of where they travel?

Should all transport authorities publish meaningful safety data?

Should there be common expectations around incident learning, workforce engagement and public accountability?

These are questions that deserve wider discussion.

My campaigning has covered many different subjects over the past year: assaults on transport workers, fatigue, heat in bus cabs, welfare facilities, accessibility, accident investigation and public transport governance.

At first glance, they can appear to be separate issues.

I do not believe they are.

They are all connected by one principle:

A safer, healthier and better-supported transport workforce creates a safer public transport system for everyone.

That is why I will continue to use Freedom of Information legislation constructively.

Not simply to obtain documents, but to understand how safety is governed, how lessons are learned and how transparency can help improve public transport for passengers and workers alike.

This work does not end with one authority or one set of documents.

If anything, it has now entered its next phase.

Disclaimer:

This article is written in a personal capacity. The views expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent the policy or position of RMT or any other organisation unless explicitly stated.

About the author:

Lee Odams is a bus driver, trade union representative and public transport campaigner. He writes about bus safety, driver welfare, public transport governance, accessibility and the need for stronger protection for transport workers and passengers.

Tags:

Bee Network, Transport for Greater Manchester, TfGM, Greater Manchester, Bus Safety, Public Transport, Freedom of Information, FOI, Bus Franchising, Safety Governance, Accountability, Transparency, Vision Zero, Occupational Road Risk, Driver Welfare, Passenger Safety, Health and Safety, Trade Unions, Transport Policy, Public Accountability, Safer Transport.