Annex
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this annex is to provide the
Transport Select Committee with evidence of the Authority's work
in supporting the British Transport Police's work in addressing
this important issue. This includes information on:
— The ways in which BTPA has set the
Force's strategic direction to address concerns around personal
safety on the rail network.
— How BTPA is directing the Force to
target the causes of passengers concerns about personal safety
by setting the appropriate policing plan targets.
— Where the Authority has invested
in reassurance policing.
— How the Authority has contributed
to developing partnership working with the industry.
— Details of the Authority's membership
profile.
— How the Authority meets its statutory
duty to consult with the travelling public.
2. SETTING THE
FORCE'S
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
The Authority is fully conscious of the importance
of passenger safety and reassurance in all areas of the rail network
and has reflected this in the aims and objectives it has set out
in the Force's current three year Strategic Plan. Specifically,
the Authority has set the following three year objectives[5]:
— Promote public safety and assurance
by working in partnership with others to make the railway a safe
environment for all.
— Reduce crime by working with our
partners and our railway community to tackle the causes of crime,
as well as dealing with crime incidents.
Further, the Chair of the Police Authority,
in his foreword to the three year Strategic Plan, has stated that:
"We are committed to providing policing
excellence for Britain's railways to help build a safe railway
environment that is free from disruption and fear of crime. We
believe we are well on the way to achieving this, and the actions
described in this Strategic Plan will enable us to continue developing
and delivering the effective modern policing that our communities
demand and deserve. Much, however, depends upon continued support
of our communities and strategic partners, with whom we intend
to work even more closely than we have in the past[6]".
The Strategic Plan also sets out the policing
style that the Force will adopt over the three year period and
this explicitly refers to the Force's role in "reducing crime,
fear of crime and to provide reassurance . . . (and in) taking
the lead in . . . dealing with low-level crime, disorder and anti-social
behaviour, which is in line with the Government's drive to improve
the quality of everyday life for all"[7].
3. SETTING THE
FORCE'S
POLICING PLAN
OBJECTIVES
In achieving these wider strategic aims, the
Authority has set the Force policing plan targets in 2005-06 and
2006-07 that specifically contribute to passenger (and rail staff)
reassurance in all areas of the rail network, including railway
stations. In 2006-07 these targets will include the following
which are particularly relevant to the issue being investigated
by the Select Committee[8]:
— Anti-social behaviour—increase
number of offenders brought to justice to at least 13800 by 31
March 2007.
— Graffiti—increase number of
detections to at least 750 by 31 March 2007.
— Theft of passenger property—5%
reduction in offences by 31 March 2007.
— Staff assaults—increase detection
rate to at least 46% by 31 March 2007.
— Robbery—to increase detection
rate to at least 34% by 31 March 2007.
4. INVESTMENTS
IN REASSURANCE
POLICING
Increasing investment in reassurance policing
has been a priority for both the Force, and the Authority since
its creation in July 2004. The Authority has made the following
specific investments in relation to reassurance policing:
— For 2005-06 the Authority approved
various bids relating to counter terrorism and increased policing
visibility such as Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs),
which totalled £2.05 million.
— For 2006-07 the Authority has approved
£288k of investment for additional PCSOs for use in Wales.
5. DEVELOPMENT
OF A
PARTNERSHIP WORKING
APPROACH
The Authority has been supportive of the Force's
desire to enter into more partnership working with the industry,
and other key, stakeholders. They have demonstrated this commitment
by setting this out as a key objective within the current three
year Strategic Plan (as detailed in section 2 above). In addition
the Authority has also instructed the Force to progress work around
developing jointly owned policing plan targets with industry partners[9],
and the Authority expects to play a key role in any dialogue with
the industry around meeting this objective. Clearly there is a
need for a genuine commitment from the rail industry to be fully
engaged in the process of developing partnership working in relation
to personal security on all areas of the rail network. However,
while the Authority does accept that there is significant scope
for further development of a partnership approach to improving
passenger security at railway stations, it believes that it is
necessary to properly differentiate between security and criminal
risks and to ensure that the Force plays an appropriate, but secondary,
role in any activities which relate solely to security issues.
If further investment in policing is required
then the Authority is happy to take that decision, however it
is crucial that this decision making is carried out in partnership
with the industry. The Authority also feels that it is for Government
to decide how to ensure that the various agencies engaged in these
partnership arrangements deliver on the commitments they have
made.
6. AUTHORITY
MEMBERSHIP
The Authority membership brings together individuals
representing a range of interests, including those of rail passengers,
thus ensuring that the travelling public have a voice in the decisions
that the Authority takes on their behalf. The required profile
of British Transport Police Authority member is set out in the
Railways, Transport and Safety Act 2003 as follows[10]:
— At least four members representing
the interests of providers of railway services;
— At least four members representing
the interests of persons travelling by rail;
— A person representing the interests
of employees of the rail industry;
— A person nominated by the Strategic
Rail Authority;
— A person representing the interests
of Scotland and appointed following consultation with the Scottish
Executive;
— A person representing the interests
of Wales and appointed following consultation with the Welsh Assembly;
— A person representing the interests
of England.
7. A DUTY TO
CONSULT WITH
PASSENGERS
As set out in part 3 of the Railways, Transport
and Safety Act 2003, the Authority has a statutory duty to consult
with (amongst others) (a) passengers on the railways (b) groups
of persons representing passengers on the railways[11].
In meeting this duty, the Authority has sought to capture rail
passengers' security and safety concerns by including questions
on the spring wave of the National Passenger Survey, currently
administered by Passenger Focus. These questions ask passengers
to identify their own priorities for the Force's policing activities
and are fed directly into the policing plan and budget setting
process.
8. CONCLUSIONS
This memorandum has set out the ways in which
the British Transport Police Authority has already demonstrated
a commitment to improving personal passenger safety at railway
stations through its work with the British Transport Police Force
and industry partners, and will obviously continue to do so.
Finally, we thank the Committee for the opportunity
to put forward our views on this issue, and are happy to provide
any additional documentation or comments which may be of assistance.
5 British Transport Police (2005) Strategic Plan 2005-08,
p5. Back
6
British Transport Police (2005) Strategic Plan 2005-08, p7 Back
7
British Transport Police (2005) Strategic Plan 2005-08, p10. Back
8
British Transport Police (2006) Paper to the Police authority
Meeting of 7 March, Agenda Item 8 "2006-07 policing plan
targets". Back
9
British Transport Police (2006) Paper to the Police authority
Meeting of 7 March, Agenda Item 8, Section 5, "2006-07 policing
plan targets". Back
10
Railways, Transport and Safety Act 2003, Schedule 4, Part 1,
Membership. London, HMSO. Back
11
Railways, Transport and Safety Act 2003, Part 3, Public Consultation.
London, HMSO. Back
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