The Mayor’s new Transport Commissioner banked more than £600,000 in taxpayer money after leaving Transport for London - before joining Greater Manchester months later. Vernon Everitt, who has vowed to ‘write the next chapter’ of the region’s transport story, was previously a director at TfL.
Mr Everitt, who had worked for TfL for 14 years, received £352,697 for loss of office, as well as a salary of £200,294 and a £71,180 delayed bonus for the previous year. It’s understood to be the biggest annual remuneration ever paid by TfL. He left the board in January as part of cost-saving measures, only to take up his position in Greater Manchester in May.
The figures, featured in TfL's draft Remuneration Report and Statement of Accounts for the year ended March 31, 2022, were considered at TfL’s Audit and Assurance Committee meeting on June 6. The Manchester Evening News asked the Mayor's office exactly when they began talking to Mr Everitt about his new role, and for his current salary.
A spokesman said Mr Everitt had left the employment of TfL in January 2022, before any conversation began about him taking up his Commissioner role, which started on April 25 2022. A GMCA Resources Committee report shows that Mr Everitt is contracted to work three days a week on a rate of £650 per day, up until October 25 2023, with costs met from the Mayor's Transport budget.
If Mr Everitt works three days in each of those 78 weeks, he will earn £152,000. This doesn't account for possible holidays.
When the Manchester Evening News spoke to Mr Everitt earlier this month, he said he would focus on integrating the different modes of public transport in Greater Manchester. Mr Everitt described the vision for the Bee Network as 'absolutely spot on'. He has said that streamlining fares and ticketing across bus, Metrolink and rail was key to making Greater Manchester's network 'one of the best in the country'. He said this would be achieved on buses and Metrolink by 2024, with trains programmed in 'by the end of the decade'.
He said unblocking the Castlefield Corridor was also among priorities, as well as other measures to relieve the bottleneck, which was largely responsible for the rail timetable crisis of 2018. He added: "Transport isn't an end in itself, it's an enabler, it unlocks jobs, education, hospitals, new homes. We need to have a new conversation about the things we need in place to unlock the potential of Greater Manchester. I'm not pretending it will be easy, but it needs to be done."
Mr Everitt was among 597 TfL and Crossrail staff to have earned six figures in 20021/22, compared with 455 the previous year. TfL is currently seeking a £900m government bailout.
On Mr Everitt's pay-out, a TFL spokesman told the Manchester Evening News : "Vernon Everitt’s compensation for loss of employment following the restructure of TfL’s Executive Team reflected his length of employment within TfL and his severance payment also included twelve months’ contractual notice pay. Removing this position from the Executive Team is expected to save TfL hundreds of thousands of pounds each year over the coming years."
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A spokesman added: "The past two years have been some of the most difficult in London’s transport history and our staff had to adapt and work tirelessly to ensure that our services remained safe, clean and reliable throughout the pandemic. Thanks to their tenacity and hard work, overall ridership has already recovered to between 70-80 per cent of that seen pre-pandemic – with weekend ridership closer still to pre-pandemic levels.
“We are continually focused on ensuring we operate as efficiently as possible, and remain confident that we can achieve financial sustainability for our operations by April 2023. Since 2016, the number of people on a salary of more than £100k has dropped by nearly 20 per cent. It is essential that we continue to attract and retain the right leadership across all disciplines of the organisation to ensure that TfL can keep London moving in a safe and sustainable way for the future.”
Kay Carberry CBE, Chair of TfL’s Remuneration Committee, said: “TfL continues to play a vital role in the economy of London and the UK as a whole, and kept London moving safely throughout the coronavirus pandemic and while facing significant financial challenges. TfL has been working hard to drive down operating costs and become ever more efficient as it supports the economic recovery of the city. It is vital it is able to attract and retain people with the right technical skills and experience to deliver complex programmes and to keep London moving.”
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