Transparency

Transparency

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, we are required to publish some information under a publication scheme.

We publish information in line with the Local Government Transparency Code issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government in February 2015.

We publish a schedule of publications including dates for Board papers, financial reports and contracts which can be found below.  Copies of any of the publications can be obtained by contacting us.

Transport for the North has strong governance arrangements with a number of Committees focused on its specific areas of remit. For more information about committee meetings, details of Local Councillors who are appointed to these committees, their register of interests, meeting attendance and other specific information please see the ‘Meetings’ section of our website.

Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information act 2000 provides a right to request access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities like Transport for the North. Prior to April 2018 all freedom of information requests we received were handled by Transport for Greater Manchester.

Submitting a "Freedom of Information" request

You can submit a freedom of information request by emailing [email protected]

Alternatively, you can send your request through post to:

FOI Request
Transport for the North
Level 6, Town Hall Extension,
Lloyd Street,
Manchester, M2 5DB

Please give us as much detail as possible in your request. We will make a response within 20 working days (not including weekends and bank holidays).

*Please note that under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act you may request information that we already hold. We are not required to create new information in response to a request.

Who we are

Find out more about our Leadership team and Board members. Information on the remuneration of senior staff, including expenses, is published. We also publish job titles and responsibilities of senior staff.

What we spend

Our business plan has a summary of revenue budget estimates and capital expenditure plans.

Our first annual statement of accounts are available from July 2019. Prior to this, accounts relating to our organisation can be found spread between Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Sheffield City Region, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Transport for Greater Manchester’s annual report’s and statement of accounts.

Every quarter we are obliged to publish a report of our expenditure. Click on the relevant links below for our Financial Disclosure Reports showing all expenditure over £500, and quarterly reports detailing all expenditure transacted through Procurement Cards. Our Monthly Operational Reports are also available below.

What our priorities are and how we are doing

We regularly update our website with information regarding our priorities and progress updates against reports and plans.

How we make decisions

Find out about us and how the organisation is run including key governance information on meetings and committees.

You can see our governance structure here, which shows how our various decision-making boards, committees and partnership arrangements are related to one another.

We publish our business plan, Constitution (appendices) and organisation chart – the latest version of which is available on request.

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Filming and audio recording at our meetings

We support the principles of openness and transparency and welcome the public and press to attend our public meetings.

Transport for the North Board and committee meetings (Rail North Committee, Scrutiny Committee and Audit & Governance Committee) are open to the public and media, except for items which contain commercial or exempt information which is excluded from public discussion, which are discussed in private.

Members of the public and press are permitted to film and record public meetings. Video and audio broadcasting recording are permitted during open sections, as is live reporting via social media channels such as blogging, Twitter and Facebook. Any such recording or reporting must be done so as not to disrupt the meeting or impede other attendees from following proceedings. Full guidance on filming and audio recording will be displayed at all public Transport for the North meetings and can seen here

You can watch the board meetings clicking here and download the webcasting notice here

Our policies and procedures

You can find out about all our HR policies and procedures that we have in place for delivering our functions and responsibilities. You can also read our access to information policy and how much time we spend on trade union facilitation.

Our Operations Board, led by the Chief Executive, is committed to ensuring we maintain high standards of health and safety. The Chief Executive’s Health and Safety Policy Statement can be found here.

Aligned with Government Guidance, Transport for The North has completed and revised its COVID-19 Risk Assessment, which is applicable to all colleagues and visitors to our Leeds and Manchester Offices.

Senior Salaries & TU Facility Time

In accordance with the Local Government Transparency Code please follow the links below to find the latest data related to TfN Senior Salaries and Trade Union Facility Time:

Human Resources related Public Disclosure Information (April 2022)

Organisational Structure – As of 04 March 2024

Lists and registers

We do not hold any registers which are open to public inspection.

The services we offer

We publish all reports and media releases as they become available. You can also read material on all our programmes.

Our Operations Board, led by the Chief Executive, are committed to ensuring we maintain high standards of health and safety. Click here for the Chief Executive’s Health and Safety Policy Statement.

Consultations

We are committed to running open and transparent consultations but we are not hosting any at this time, we keep our website up to date and details of consultations can be found here.

Data usage and sharing

Transport for the North has made publicly available the Transport for the North EV Charging Infrastructure framework visualizer tool and the Transport for the North EV Charging Infrastructure – rapid charging location tool. These tools are available to use under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Additionally your use of these tools indicates your acceptance of the following Disclaimer and Appropriate Use Statement.

Insurance

In line with the requirements of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 and our approach to transparency please find copies of our: Certificate of Compliance for Employers Liability Insurance and Public Liability Insurance

Declaration of Interest | DOI

Members of Transport for the North are required to declare their personal and pecuniary interests, and any interests that might be seen as prejudicing their decision-making. This includes people who have been co-opted onto Our Board and Committee members.

In addition to registering interests, Transport for the North Members are required to declare them at Board and Committee meetings that they attend as members, where they relate to an item of business for that meeting.

Where the interest declared is a personal one it is noted and the Member can take part in the meeting. Where the interest declared is a pecuniary or prejudicial one they must leave the meeting while that item of business is dealt with, so there can be no suggestion they were able to influence any decisions made in the meeting.

Any interests declared at the meeting are recorded in the minutes of the meeting and can also be found on Our Board page.

Memorandum of Understanding | MoU

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Department for Transport and Transport for the North sets out the heads of terms between the Department for Transport and Transport for the North, covering our vision, function, responsibilities, role and governance. Click here to download

We also have an MoU with each of the cross-border partners Midlands Connect and the Welsh Government. These commit both parties to closer, collaborative working on areas of common interest and shared opportunity. Click here to download the MoU with Midlands Connect, and click here to download the MoU with the Welsh Government.

In addition, we have an MoU between Department for Transport, Transport for the North and Rail North Partnership. The partnership agreement and novation relating to devolution of rail responsibilities in the North of England including the management of the Northern and TransPennine Express Franchise Agreements. Click here to download