Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Association of Train Operating Companies
I am responding to your letter of 28 April which
we received on 4 May. The answers to the questions you raise are
set out below:
1. Question 12: Exactly how many stations
are managed by ATOC members, and how many of these are accredited
under the Secure Stations Scheme?
Response: ATOC members manage 2,498 stations.
Of these, 191 are accredited under the scheme. One further station
is working towards accreditation. 23 further stations have been
assessed and formal accreditation by the DfT is awaited. Plans
are in hand to seek accreditation for a further 59 stations—some
of these plans are well advanced with submission to the BTP Assessor
due next month.
2. Questions 41-44: What would be the extra
cost of staffing all the stations managed by ATOC members at all
times when trains are running?
Response: Unfortunately, it is not possible
to supply the cost of staffing all stations at all times trains
are running. Many stations have been unstaffed for many
years, and some have always been unstaffed halts. In most cases
there is no accommodation for staff at these stations. Clearly
the cost of providing new buildings and servicing them could only
be determined after substantial research and it would not be possible
to do this in the timescale set for reply. Full time station
staffing at all stations is not prescribed in franchise agreements
and our evidence made clear that station staffing would not of
itself deal with the crime and security issues discussed.
In particular, it would have little value at stations with very
low footfall.
3. Question 55: How many times in each of
the last five years have ATOC members asked the BTP to prosecute
on the basis of CCTV evidence?
Response: Our members make CCTV evidence
available to BTP at their request. BTP decides whether or not
to prosecute.
4. Question 64: Across all ATOC members,
how many staff monitoring CCTV cameras are in radio contact with
BTP officers? What proportion of monitoring staff does this figure
represent?
Response: 560 stations are "live
monitored" at one or other of 15 central CCTV monitoring
control rooms. The Wimbledon Control Centre, for example, has
live feeds from over 1,100 cameras, so continuous monitoring of
all is impractical. Live monitoring means that a rotating selection
of cameras are monitored with the ability of staff to focus on
individual locations as required. All of these centres are in
telephone contact with the relevant BTP area control. In some
circumstances, for example during major events at Cardiff Millenium
stadium, BTP staff are present in the monitoring centre. The CCTV
cameras in other stations are monitored locally by station staff.
These staff are able to contact BTP by telephone.
5. Question 87: How many prosecutions have
been brought for violence against the staff of ATOC members, in
each of the past five years? And what is the breakdown into different
categories of violent crime?
Response: We do not hold these figures,
but the following data from BTP may be helpful. In 2005-06, violent
crime comprised the following number of offences:
7,348
Violence against the person
717
Sexual offences
1,692 Robbery offences
9,757
Total, violent crime
The figure for staff assaults represents some
20% of the above total. We do not have details of the number of
prosecutions brought by BTP, but the detections for staff assaults
for that year totalled 957.
6. Question 89: What targets does ATOC promote
among its members for reducing the number of incidents of violent
crime against your staff?
Response: TOCs have a zero tolerance
approach to assaults on staff no matter how minor. The aim
is to see year on year reductions in reported assaults.
The number of reported assaults is high because TOCs have been
putting every effort in to encouraging the reporting of all assaults.
TOCs ensure that all staff receive training (and retraining),
based on the role that they perform, to minimise the incidents
of assault. TOCs have instituted close working relationships
with the BTP to ensure that all assaults are thoroughly investigated.
9 May 2006
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