Thameslink 20 May timetable disruption compensation

The request was successful.

Dear Department for Transport,

1. Please release any Equality Impact Assessment that was conducted by DfT when determining the compensation to be offered to Thameslink passengers impacted by the introduction of the “new timetable” effective 20 May 2018.
2. Please release all email and other correspondence that led up to the decision to offer between 1-4 weeks compensation to season ticket holders.
3. Please release the minutes of any meetings where the compensation package to be offered was discussed or noted in relation to the disruption caused by the 20 May 2018 timetable

Yours faithfully,
Daisy Cooper

Department for Transport

Dear Daisy Cooper,

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for information which
has been allocated reference number P0016343.

A response will be issued to you in due course.

Regards,

Ivan Pocock
Department for Transport
FOI Advice Team
Digital Service
Zone D/04
Ashdown House
Sedlescombe Road North
St Leonards on Sea
East Sussex
TN37 7GA

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Rail-franchise-correspondence, Department for Transport

2 Attachments

Dear Daisy Cooper,

 

Please find attached a response to your Freedom of Information request.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

[1][IMG]          Mr Michael Evans 
Senior Correspondence Manager, Briefing & Public
Affairs, Passenger Services 

4/15, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR
[2]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk 

 

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Rail-franchise-correspondence, Department for Transport

2 Attachments

Dear Daisy Cooper,

 

Please find attached a response to your Freedom of Information request.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

[1][IMG]          Mr Michael Evans 
Senior Correspondence Manager, Briefing & Public
Affairs, Passenger Services 

4/15, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR
[2]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk 

 

show quoted sections

Rail-franchise-correspondence, Department for Transport

2 Attachments

Dear Daisy Cooper,

 

Please find attached a response to your Freedom of Information request.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

 

[1][IMG]          Mr Michael Evans 
Senior Correspondence Manager, Briefing & Public
Affairs, Passenger Services 

4/15, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR
[2]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk 

 

show quoted sections

Rail-franchise-correspondence, Department for Transport

4 Attachments

Dear Daisy Cooper,

 

Please find attached a response to your Freedom of Information request.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

[1]cid:image001.png@01D45CD2.20EFA1D0          Mr Michael Evans 
Senior Correspondence
Manager, Briefing & Public
Affairs, Passenger
Services 

4/15, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road,
London, SW1P 4DR
[2]Follow us on twitter
@transportgovuk 

 

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Richard Taylor left an annotation ()

A Financial Times article based on the material released in response to this request, headlined: "Transport mandarins wanted rail chaos payouts kept ‘low key’" is available at:

https://www.ft.com/content/44efe7b4-d605...

The "keep this low key" advice is on p28 of the PDF "F0016343 Correspondence redacted.pdf ":
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/5...

Richard Taylor left an annotation ()

Very (suspiciously?) shortly after the publication of the FT article the advice to keep the compensation scheme "low key" was raised in the House of Commons' Transport Select Committee:

https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/c7...

Chair of the Transport Select Committee Lilian Greenwood MP: "It's been reported in the FT this afternoon that a Freedom of Information request has revealed an email dated 5th of July from a DfT official noticing that GTR have published its additional compensation scheme and the email is sent to Tim Rees who I believe works in your team and it says: 'my advice would be to keep this low key and targeted at passengers and stakeholders, not media'. Can you explain why there would be a suggestion that details of the compensation scheme shouldn't have been publicised through the media if you want to maximise the opportunities for people to know that it exists and how to claim it. "

Civil servant: "No I can't explain it"

Transport Minister Chris Grayling: "Since ministers talked about it regularly in the media regularly across the summer period and in the Commons and to members of Parliament there was no attempt to make this low key.

Chair of the Transport Select Committee Lilian Greenwood MP: "I wonder why a member of DfT staff would have made that suggestion"

Transport Minister Chris Grayling: "I've no idea. It may have been a suggestion that was made but it's certainly not what happened."

As often happens with news stories it's been picked up by others:

"Chris Grayling under fire after official called for rail compensation scheme to be kept ‘low key’"
https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/tra...

"Government official attempted to keep details of rail compensation scheme 'low key', it emerges "
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/201...

"May timetables: DfT official tried to keep GTR compensation pay-outs under wraps"
http://www.railtechnologymagazine.com/ra...

"REVEALED: Transport Department official tried to HIDE details of rail compensation scheme"
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/103514...

The Politics Home article includes a report from behind the Telegraph paywall saying:
"former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, ... told the Telegraph: "If this letter is authentic, the official should be immediately dismissed unless it was an instruction from a higher authority."