Select Committee on Transport Minutes of Evidence


Supplementary memorandum submitted by Network Rail

  Further to your request to Robin Gisby, Director of Operations and Customer Services, please find below follow up notes on a number of the questions raised by the committee. In respect of: assaults on staff, action taken by the BTP in each of these, and the role of CCTV in prosecutions, I am able to provide the following information.

  In respect of Q55, please be aware that the BTP does not technically prosecute people itself, this is the job of the Crown Prosecution Service.  Therefore, they do not have prosecution related data. 

  The BTP instead uses the term "detection", which is where:

    —  A person has been charged or summonsed for a crime.

    —  An offender has been cautioned or given a final warning or reprimand.

    —  The offender admits the crime ands asks for it to be taken into consideration by the court.

    —  No further action has been taken by the police, which usually occurs if the offender is dead or severely ill; or when an essential witness or victim is permanently ill.

    —  A penalty notice for disorder has been issued.

    —  A formal warning for cannabis possession has been issued.

  The following data is for the BTP force as a whole (excluding LU) in order to provide you with a complete picture of the overall level of violent crime on the railways.
Force excluding LU
2001-022002-03 2003-042004-05 2005-06
Violence against the person4,737 5,7766,4327,126 7,348
Sexual offences718692 799893717
Robbery offences2,625 1,7692,0881,724 1,692
Total violent crime8,080 8,2379,3199,743 9,757


  It is not possible to provide data as to how many people have been prosecuted on the basis of CCTV evidence as the BTP do not keep this type of data.

  In respect of question 87, the following table shows overall BTP detections for staff assaults (again, excluding LU):
Detections for Staff Assaults (excluding LU Area)
2001-02430
2002-03526
2003-04645
2004-05779
2005-06957


  Network Rail's own record of staff assaults for the last full year (2005-06) was 162. Assault figures comprise two categories: Verbal and Physical. Verbal abuse is any verbal statement that the victim considers to be offensive, abusive or insulting, but not accompanied by a threat of force, this includes anything of a racial or sexual nature. Physical abuse includes both actual physical contact and direct threats and gestures of violence, including those with a weapon.

  Due to a change in the categorisation of assaults in April 2005 which was accompanied by a campaign to encourage staff to report more verbal assaults, there are no directly comparable figures for previous years.

  In respect of question 89; the overwhelming majority of assaults on Network Rail staff occur at the stations we manage. At each of these there is a safety action plan aimed at reducing the level of assaults, this is backed up by training and information to our employees, public campaigns and liaison with the BTP and community support officers who have a high profile at each of these 17 large stations. In addition, where the CPS does not bring a case forward for prosecution and we feel that there may be an opportunity to bring a private action, Network Rail will seriously consider doing so on behalf of an employee.

  With regards an overall target, the assault figures are monitored and reported on at senior level: there is no specific target figure for assaults on staff, rather the aim of Network Rail's efforts is to drive the overall figure down.

  I trust that the above information helps in the committee's considerations on safety at stations. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

10 May 2006


 
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