Report of the 7 July Review Committee
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cover2.qxd 5/26/06 3:41 pm Page 1 Report of the 7 July Review Committee - Volume 2 Volume - Committee Report of the 7 July Review Report of the 7 July Review Committee Volume 2: Views and information from organisations Greater London Authority City Hall The Queen’s Walk More London London SE1 2AA www.london.gov.uk Enquiries 020 7983 4100 June 2006 Minicom 020 7983 4458 LA/May 06/SD D&P Volume 2: Views and information from organisations Contents Page Transcript of hearing on 3 November 2005 3 Transport for London, Metropolitan Police Service, City of London Police, British Transport Police, London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service Transcript of hearing on 1 December 2005 Telecommunications companies: BT, O2, Vodafone, Cable & Wireless 61 Communication with businesses: London Chamber of Commerce & Industry 90 and Metropolitan Police Service Transcript of hearing on 11 January 2006 Local authorities: Croydon Council (Local Authority Gold on 7 July), Camden 109 Council, Tower Hamlets Council and Westminster City Council Health Service: NHS London, Barts & the London NHS Trust, Great Ormond 122 Street Hospital, Royal London Hospital and Royal College of Nursing Media: Sky News, BBC News, BBC London, ITV News, LBC News & Heart 132 106.2, Capital Radio and London Media Emergency Forum, Evening Standard, The Times Transcript of hearing on 1 March 2006 147 Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London Sir Ian Blair, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Written submissions from organisations Metropolitan Police 167 City of London Police 175 London Fire Brigade 181 London Ambulance Service 199 London Underground 231 NHS Care Services Improvement Partnership/London Development Centre 241 7th July Assistance Centre 247 City of London 251 Westminster City Council 257 Croydon Council (Local Authority Gold on 7 July) 259 Health Protection Agency 261 British Red Cross 267 London Chamber of Commerce & Industry 269 Chrysalis News 270 Daily Mail 271 Home Office (Hazel Blears) 272 Disaster Action 276 1 7 July Review Committee – transcript of hearing on 3 November 2005 7 July Review Committee 3 November 2005 Transport for London: Tim O’Toole, Managing Director, London Underground Peter Hendy, Managing Director, Surface Transport Paul Mylrea, Director of Group Media Relations Chris Townsend, Director of Group Marketing Metropolitan Police Service Assistant Commissioner Alan Brown Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ron McPherson Dick Fedorcio, Director of Public Affairs Commander Chris Allison Detective Superintendent Rick Turner Superintendent Peter Smith; from the Metropolitan Police Service City of London Police Chief Superintendent Alex Robertson British Transport Police Deputy Chief Constable Andrew Trotter Chief Superintendent Peter Hilton London Fire Brigade Assistant Commissioner, Ron Dobson Rita Dexter, Director of Corporate Services James Flynn, Head of Communications London Ambulance Service Russell Smith, Deputy Director of Operations Angie Patton, Head of Communications Richard Barnes (Chair): Thank you all very much indeed for coming this morning. I particularly thank you all for the help, consideration, honesty and courtesy with which you have dealt with us over the last couple of months, as we have been doing the research to get the panel together and to identify the areas that we are going to be looking at. Your openness has been unbelievably refreshing and a total reassurance to Londoners. I also at this stage want to acknowledge the tremendous work put in by all those who were on the front line on 7 July. I think we must acknowledge London Underground (LUL) staff, who, certainly at three of the incidents were the first on the scene: the drivers, station staff and others who were there before everybody else endeavouring to give help and succour to the injured. Indeed, we have had a number of emails to our email address pointing out the sheer and total appreciation for the LUL staff. We are all 3 7 July Review Committee – transcript of hearing on 3 November 2005 aware of the tremendous work which the blue light services did. We owe you a debt of honour that you have repaid on a daily basis since 7 July. It has been incredibly impressive for all of us. The purpose of the Committee is to identify where things could have gone a little smoother and a little better, as well as the lessons that can be learnt so that should there be another incident we are more prepared and in a better position to help both the victims and the families of victims. There has been a lot of interest from up and down the country so the lessons that we learn will be applicable to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. None of you are under oath, but we all have a duty to London and I know we will all fulfil it, not only at this hearing but the four more that we have in the future. Can I invite us just to remind ourselves of the events and the seriousness of the day? [Audio recording is played of a ‘999’ call on 7 July 2005, accompanied by film footage of actuality on the day]. Police: Police Emergency Caller: Hi, um, there’s a bus just exploded outside in Tavistock Square – just outside my window. Police: Tavistock Square? Caller: Yeah, in London. There’s people lying on the ground and everything. Police: Right, and it was an explosion on the bus, was it? Caller: Yeah, there’s people lying in the road, there’s a London bus, it’s a 30, I think? There’s people trying to get out. I think there’s ambulances on the way, but there’s people dead and everything by the looks of it. Police: okay… right the explosion happened a few minutes ago, yeah? Caller: Er, about two minutes ago…. Richard Barnes (Chair): Perhaps just a few seconds of personal individual reflection might be appropriate. [There is a pause for reflection] Richard Barnes (Chair): Thank you ladies and gentlemen. I believe Mr (Tim) O’Toole (Managing Director, LUL) wishes to address the Committee. Tim O’Toole (Managing Director, London Underground, Transport for London): Thank you, Chair. Thank you very much for your kind words and what you said about everyone here. I think they were wholly appropriate and very much appreciated. Let me just introduce the other members of the Transport for London (TfL) team who are with me. Of course, Peter Hendy (Managing Director, Surface Transport) needs no introduction, since he runs just about everything other than the Underground in this 4 7 July Review Committee – transcript of hearing on 3 November 2005 city. Due to the events we are focused on, I think one item I would like to note in introducing Peter (Hendy), is that it was Peter who got the bus service back into London and got everyone home that night: a feat that I think is not remarked on enough. It was really London Buses that saw us through, along with the national rail service, on the evening of that awful day. Paul Mylrea is our director of Media Relations. I have said to him privately, and I welcome the chance to say publicly, what a great job I think he did working with the media representatives of the police and others. They worked seamlessly; there was no infighting or bickering, they got the messages out. He had a light enough hand to allow us to take care of operations, but also firm enough to make sure we met our responsibility of briefing the public and the press. Chris Townsend is the Director of Marketing. He has under his control many of the more 21st century ways of communicating: the web pages we use, the text messaging, and the emails we are able to send as a result of our Oyster database. I will be very brief in my remarks, because I know you have questions and I have had the opportunity before to make comments about that day, but I have to just note some points. Since this is an official hearing, I would not want them omitted. The first, of course, is that we always start with an expression of concern for those most affected: the victims that day. I think we were all struck at the memorial service the other day that this was not just some anonymous group of people to whom something bad happened, they are our passengers. These are people who rely on us for their safety and their care. We think about them every day. I also want to express my thanks to all the TfL staff. You have very eloquently cited them, and I will not repeat all that. I appreciate it, Chair. In addition, the people in the call centres; the people who were not at the sites, but who were de-training customers by themselves at small stations. Everyone pulled together on that day. I would also especially like to thank all the emergency services. We feel we were very well served that day. We feel they put in a remarkable effort. I do think it was testimony to the drills and the London Resilience preparations that we went through. At times, there was some cynicism and smirking at the boredom of some of those long meetings, but they certainly proved worthwhile. We have submitted to you a timeline of what took place that day, that I will just briefly note with our perceptions. I received first notice at 8.51am that there was an event on the Underground, which we thought was related to a bulk supply point that supplies our traction current power. We identified it as a power surge and put out that message, because loud bangs, explosions and the loss of power are something that we have run into before when we have lost power on the Underground.