APPENDIX 6
Memorandum submitted by the British Transport
Police Authority
The Authority welcomes the Committee's inquiry
into personal passenger safety at railway stations and the opportunity
to contribute to the debate. We restrict our submission to non-operational
matters, operational issues being properly matters for consideration
by the Chief Constable.
We make this submission in the context of the
current review of the British Transport Police (BTP) by the Department
for Transport, which has identified abolition and "refocusing"
of the BTP as the two most likely outcomes in a recent letter
to train operating companies. Refocusing is not clearly defined
but seems to refer to a focus only on low level crime and a greater
role for train operating companies providing private security.
Our fundamental position is that successive
reviews have confirmed the need for a national specialist (and
properly funded) police force for the railways. Nothing has changed
since to suggest this is not the case, and any proposals to the
contrary would be to the detriment of the travelling public, and
indeed the railway industry as a whole. The track record suggests
train operating companies would not invest sufficiently in dealing
with security matters.
1. WHAT ARE
THE MOST
EFFECTIVE METHODS
OF MAKING
RAILWAY AND
UNDERGROUND STATIONS
SAFER FOR
PASSENGERS?
The BTPA believes that it is important in this
debate to distinguish between crime and security. Whilst security
is a matter which the private sector plays a role in, both on
the railways and in many other areas, crime is rightly something
which should be dealt with by the proper authorities, which are
both public and accountable, and therefore in a position to prioritise
the public good. Security personnel and the police should (and
do) work together, but security personnel should not be deployed
instead of police officers and police community support officers,
but should complement policing activity. One of the fundamental
functions of the police is to detect and deter crime. This is
achieved by proactive operations based on the national intelligence
model. The police also react to emergency calls from the public.
The right balance has to be struck between security personnel,
who can give a physical presence, and police officers with the
full range of statutory powers.
The BTP is funded by the railway industry, and
therefore largely by passengers. This gives it a unique role as
a police force which can and does prioritise the concerns of the
railway industry, staff and passengers in a way they would not
otherwise be.
Securing adequate funding for the BTP is one
of the key functions of the BTPA, and is essential to making railway
and underground stations safer for passengers and for railway
staff. The source of that funding has long been based on the `user
pays' principle. Whether this needs to be adapted to reflect additional
requirements for anti-terrorism or wider social issues is a question
for government rather than the BTPA. Our concern is that the Force
is well-funded and this continues to be our priority during the
current review of the BTP being held by the Department for Transport.
The right balance between private sector interest
and the public good is fundamental to the effectiveness of the
BTP. The restructuring of the BTP Committee to create the BTPA
has enabled us to tackle legacy issues of inadequate funding settlements
and secure increased funding for the Force. It is of note in the
context of the current debate that TfL, which is a public body,
has funded significant additional BTP officers for the Underground.
We believe that any erosion of these important reforms of the
governance of the BTP would be a step backwards for passenger
safety.
2. IS IT
SUFFICIENTLY CLEAR
TO PASSENGERS
AND OTHERS
WHO IS
RESPONSIBLE FOR
THE SAFETY
OF PASSENGERS
IN RAILWAY
AND UNDERGROUND
STATIONS?
Having a national railway police force which
operates throughout the UK is helpful for passengers as they have
a single point of contact no matter their location. Investment
planned by the BTPA will secure a 24-hour call answering centre
which will be a great improvement for passengers. Visible policing
at stations is also critical for passengers. The BTPA has funded
increased numbers of police officers and community support officers
with investments of £2.05 million in 2005-06 and £288k
in 2006-07 (specifically for PCSOs for use in Wales).
Erosion of the BTP's role, or abolition of the
national force to be replaced by regional ones, will lead to greater
confusion around responsibility and accountability for passenger
safety.
3. WHAT MEASURES
WOULD BE
REQUIRED TO
ENSURE SIGNIFICANT
IMPROVEMENTS IN
PASSENGERS' SAFETY
IN RAILWAY
AND UNDERGROUND
STATIONS?
Particularly due to the legacy issues caused
by previous inadequate funding settlements, significant improvements
to passenger safety require increased funding of the BTP. The
BTPA has addressed the need for investment in its three-year Strategic
Plan and it will be important in future to maintain its ability
to secure adequate funding settlements from the railway industry.
At a time of heightened terrorist security alert, BTPA with industry
support has increased its funding for counter-terrorism activities.
It seems to us that an individual has the right to expect the
State to protect him or her against certain activities. This should
include terrorism and an element of government funding in the
future may assist industry in providing for anti-terrorism activities,
as was the case for example in additional Department for Transport
funding for increased BTP activity during July 2005 as a result
of the bombings on the London Underground.
There is a continued need for a specialist,
national railway police force. This has been identified by numerous
reports including by HMIC and by this Committee, and government
has in the past been supportive of the BTP. Abolition or downgrading
of the BTP as a consequence of either the DfT review or the restructuring
of Home Office forces would deal a blow to passenger safety, both
in the short term as operations are disrupted and in the long-term,
as HMIC noted in its 2004, Report on the BTP:
" . . . the enforced amalgamation/merger
of the whole or part of the British Transport Police with one
or all Home Office Police Forces would unquestioningly lead to
a dilution of the specialist service given to the rail industry
and its public users and, most probably, would lead to a significant
reduction in the number of police officers and police staff left
to police the network."
4. IS THE
GOVERNMENT'S
APPROACH TO
PASSENGER SAFETY
IN RAILWAY
STATIONS EFFECTIVE?
In 2004, the government reviewed the BTP and
created the BTPA to replace the BTP Committee. This restructuring
has led to increased funding for the BTP and consequential operational
improvements. All nine operational targets were met for 2004-05
and the BTPA is currently meeting all eleven operational targets
for 2005-06.
We believe this is the right approach and has
allowed for investment and modernisation of the BTP via the BTPA's
three-year Strategic Plan and increased budgets to address the
legacy issues. These investments will improve the effectiveness
of the Force and secure greater passenger safety in railway and
underground stations. If the BTP were downgraded or abolished,
these achievements would be compromised and passenger safety would
suffer.
The GLA Transport Committee's report of January
2006 into crime and safety at London's suburban railway stations
noted the lack of priority given by train operating companies
to passenger safety. This has demonstrated that it is not sensible
to give the private sector too much responsibility for passenger
safety, and that it is important to maintain the proper role of
the BTP in protecting against crime on the railways. Security
personnel should be an addition, not a replacement for police
officers and police community support officers.
30 March 2006
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