RMweb Premium Kris Posted September 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 28, 2021 Reported here. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-58716625 and here https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/about-us/important-announcement From the 17th October. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dagworth Posted September 28, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 28, 2021 Another TOC loses a franchise and services to be taken over by Govt “Operator of Last Resort” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-58716625 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizz Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 25 million of tax payers money ‘unrepaid’ to .GOV.UK…..….that’s interesting, I wonder where that went? It will probably come under the convenient title of Commercially Sensitive Information and possibly will end up not being in the public interest to know the details. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizz Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 25 million of tax payers money ‘unrepaid’ to .GOV.UK…..….that’s interesting, I wonder where that went? It will probably come under the convenient title of Commercially Sensitive Information and possibly will end up not being in the public interest to know the details. I am not being negative…..just professionally sceptical 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 Won't be much to see above the waterline apart from a possible change of branding and maybe livery but TBH that would be a waste of time, effort and money. Be interesting to see if any intended stock changes go ahead. Staff I know were happy with the way it was run last time by OofLR after Connex got booted out. At the top it may well get serious with the Serious Fraud Office involved but if that's the case nothing will happen soon. Stu 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurker Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 1 hour ago, Grizz said: 25 million of tax payers money ‘unrepaid’ to .GOV.UK…..….that’s interesting, I wonder where that went? It will probably come under the convenient title of Commercially Sensitive Information and possibly will end up not being in the public interest to know the details. according to the BBC article linked in the OP, the £25m has now been reclaimed. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
whart57 Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 Well the Chief Financial Officer has resigned. Quite right too if his department are in the habit of "mislaying" £25M. As an aside I once had to ensure the delivery of daily financial reports to the guy at a major insurance company whose responsibility it was to track the daily cash flow. These reports were in the form of several pages of spreadsheet printed on that "pyjama paper" mainframe connected printers used to spew out. This guy could scan this print-out and in a matter of minutes he'd have marked some figures that required investigation. That's the sort of guy who sit in offices scrutinising major company finances. I do not believe Govia were unaware they held £25M they shouldn't be holding. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
whart57 Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 4 minutes ago, The Lurker said: according to the BBC article linked in the OP, the £25m has now been reclaimed. Lesson #1: The Treasury never forgets 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizz Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 Mmmmmm without wishing to prejudice er anything type stuff... I wonder where the ex Chief Financial Officer and associates might appear next? Perhaps in front of the Parliamentary Select Committee??? ......in due course, of course. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hodgson Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 The company has apparently referred itself to the SFO who haven't yet decided whether or not to investigate. https://www.ft.com/content/f72054bd-bcf0-4d93-8083-f498b59979a6 If the missing £25m has been repaid as claimed by the Go-Ahead group, they presumably still had the funds. So perhaps it's more a case of accounting oversight or incompetence rather than fraud as is being suggested by some. Mismanagement rather than malfeasance? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidlandRed Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 Interesting timing of this announcement, with the fuel debacle still ongoing (people queuing overnight at 24 hr supermarket fuel stations), and reports yesterday of increased public transport use as a result. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizz Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 how much compound interest is there for 7 years on 25 million?......just saying... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsforever Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 Wonder who the next franchise to hit the headlines will be in these strange times also noted in the BBC article the RMT raised full nationalisation again . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted September 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 28, 2021 Reported on BBC news that the Government intend to re-tender this franchise. What about Great British Railway? I thought that was starting next year and all services will be on management contracts rather than the current system? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium corneliuslundie Posted September 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 28, 2021 I read Grizz at first as asking which multinational company he would next appear as CEO of !!! Cylical, moi? Jonathan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizz Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 4 minutes ago, corneliuslundie said: I read Grizz at first as asking which multinational company he would next appear as CEO of !!! Cylical, moi? Jonathan AHahahahaha nice one Jonathan, that is pretty much what I wrote to start with ….but thought that I’d better apply Electronic Communications Rule 1 i.e. Don’t Hit the Send Button when any of the following apply…. 1) Drunk. 2) Angry. 3) Raging. 4) Drunk and Raging. 5) Outraged. 6) Full up with possibly actionable, comments. Etc etc etc… I was not courageous enough….wish I had been now 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium corneliuslundie Posted September 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 28, 2021 But you gave me the perfect opening, without my needing to suggest anything myself. To be fair, it is beginning to look like a cock-up rather than anything intentional. And as I have often said, I'll expect others to be perfect when I manage it myself. Perhaps living in the Balkans for some years has influenced me more than I like to admit. Back on topic, it will be odd if the franchise is re-advertised. Jonathan 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapford34102 Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 When my daughter's other half came off shift from Ramsgate depot she greeted him with "where's our share ?" Apparently they're all pretty sanguine about it many having gone through this before with Connex. Stu 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMJ Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 I wonder how many more franchise holders who wish to get out of running trains will find "ways" like this to hand over the operation of the railway to others. Arguably I could say I had some money from the franchise, here in Leeds, as a company I worked for had contractors working for them at Ashford and other sites. Accountants are known to try and delay paying for items until the last minute. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 7 hours ago, Grizz said: Mmmmmm without wishing to prejudice er anything type stuff... I wonder where the ex Chief Financial Officer and associates might appear next? Perhaps in front of the Parliamentary Select Committee??? ......in due course, of course. the "other place " at the palace of Westminster ? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted September 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 28, 2021 The Old Bailey? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium phil-b259 Posted September 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 28, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, lmsforever said: Wonder who the next franchise to hit the headlines will be in these strange times also noted in the BBC article the RMT raised full nationalisation again . Well they would say that wouldn't they! The default reaction from the RMT over ANYTHING these days is to nationalise it - because according to the teachings of Marx that fixes everything..... Edited September 28, 2021 by phil-b259 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted September 28, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 28, 2021 Ironically they ARE about to Nationalise it, sort of.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 The whole issue of privatisation has been moot since Covid hit - up until then a number of franchises were in trouble due to overbidding (and the toxic contracting environment from DfT) and some were OK but Covid meant that HM Government effectively assumed the liability for running the passenger rail industry. One of the reasons the Williams-Shapps review, with GBR assuming revenue risk and liability going forward, got signed off was that the transfer of risk back to Government had already happened. There are a mix of contracts out there right now as it takes time to get them all sorted but the transfer of SE to the Operator of Last Resort is much less of an issue than it would have been under the old franchise agreement as it was effectively already only a management contract. GBR will be taking the contracting role over but it doesn't exist yet - shadow operation in pencilled in for 2022 with the legislation required to establish it properly unlikely before 2024. In the meantime the trains still need to run hence the various contractual changes currently happening which can't simply be parked until GBR can deal with them. Under the current administration, the policy will still be for GBR to contract out train operations but they will not be franchises in the traditional sense - indeed the expectation is that other than for long distance operations (where there is a commercially viable model of operation that is likely to involve more risk transfer to the private sector) the contracting will be very much under the bonnet. Just in the same way that for several years after privatisation many people still referred to British Rail, I can already see that for much of the current generation it will take time for them to stop seeing the delivery of their train services as being by TOCs/Train Operators rather than GBR, but all the operators are already (and have been for some time) effectively 'vassal states' that deliver to Government specification. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
62613 Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 25 minutes ago, phil-b259 said: Well they would say that wouldn't they! The default reaction from the RMT over ANYTHING these days is to nationalise it - because according to the teachings of Marx that fixes everything..... Nothing to do with Marx. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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