Summary report from the Scottish Railway Polcing Committee

Thursday 19 September 2024

SPA Members – Tom Halpin and Mary Pitcaithly

Action updates and Matters Arising

British Transport Police (BTP) informed the Committee of ongoing discussions with regards to the use of drones by BTP in Scotland. BTP have committed to using the same Code of Practice developed and implemented by Police Scotland and are engaging with Police Scotland and Scottish Government Ministers on this matter.

Members updated on discussion points raised at the BTP engagement dinner on 18th September 2024. Topics of discussion included antisocial behaviour (ASB) and young people, the responsiveness of BTP, the effectiveness of SRPC, and technology.

Strategic Risks

The Committee was presented with BTP Strategic Risk register and a detailed risk analysis of this for D Division, which has been developed at the request of the Committee.

Discussion on the risks outlined focused on the retention of officers, future cyber threat risks, the Optimised Policing Model (covered in more detail in a private session) and estates. Members were assured that the Strategic Risk update would be brought to every other SRPC meeting.

Policing Plan Performance 2024-25 Quarter 1

Committee welcomed the 6% increase in the divisional solve rate in Q1 and the 57.5% positive rate reported for stop and search.

Members also heard of positive examples of proactive resource deployment to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) at concerts with high passenger numbers and plans to further analyse the sporadic nature of serious violence occurring.

BTP also made clear that it continues to prioritise VAWG, noting that recorded crimes may also relate to the confidence of victims to report. BTP committed to ensuring victims receive support to facilitate confidence in reporting crimes.

Joint working Police Scotland / BTP

Police Scotland provided the Members with an update on joint working between the two organisations. This included work in L Division (Argyll and West Dunbartonshire) focusing on opportunities to prevent incidents of VAWG in the rail network.

Industry Voice

Representatives from Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT) and Stagecoach provided an update on partnership working with BTP, highlighting BTP’s commitment to partner collaboration and the good practice in place such as sharing of CCTV. Both organisations are committed to continued strong partnership working with BTP to address continued incidents of ASB.

Discussion from members centred around how best to address repeat ASB incidents, particularly when concerning young people, to ensure compliance with the principles of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

SRPC Evaluation Report

This report has been developed further. There is one milestone reporting as Amber, which relates to the delay in responding to a letter from the Scottish Parliament. Authority colleagues confirmed that Scottish Parliament had been briefed on the maturity of the SRPC in its function.

Workplan

The Members were briefed on the agenda for the forthcoming SPRC November Committee. Members indicated that if items are to be deprioritised in the next meeting’s agenda, priority should be given to ensuring the inclusion of the Staff/Passenger Survey.

AOB

N/A.