Remit
The Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee is seeking views on the Railway Policing (Scotland) Bill.
The Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 8 December 2016. The Bill seeks to make for the arrangements for the policing of the railways and railway property by transferring the responsibility for policing from the British Transport Police in Scotland to Police Scotland.
Read the Bill and accompanying documents.
Key issues
The policy objective of the Bill is to pave the way for the integration of railway policing into the Police Service of Scotland (Police Scotland) by (a) providing the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and Police Scotland with new powers in relation to the policing of railways and railway property and (b) removing powers in relation to such policing in Scotland from the British Transport Police (BTP) and the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA).
The key issues are set out below. Responses should address all or any of the following points in turn—
- the impact, if any, which the devolution of railway policing will have in terms of retaining specialist skills and knowledge built up by British Transport Police officers;
- the impact, if any, which the devolution of railway policing will have in terms of cross-border security arrangements;
- the impact, if any, on ensuring consistency in delivering passenger safety and maintaining confidence within railway policing;
- the possibility that officers tasked with railway policing in Scotland may be abstracted from their core rail policing duties in order to support wider operational roles within Police Scotland;
- whether there will be any difficulties in setting up new railway policing agreements with railway operators;
- the implications, if any, for BTP officers who are currently contracted officers when they are transferred to Crown Servant status including any implications with regard to terms and conditions and pensions.
The Committee intends to take evidence in February and March 2017 and report to Parliament in Spring.
How to submit written evidence
You may wish to respond to any or all of the points above. Evidence should be reasonably brief and typewritten in Word format (preferably no more than 4-6 sides of A4 in total).
The deadline for receipt of written submissions is:
Tuesday 31 January 2017
Owing to the timescale normally required for the processing and analysis of evidence, late submissions will only be accepted with the advance agreement of the clerk.
The Committee prefers to receive written submissions electronically. These should be sent to:
[email protected]
You may also send a hard copy of written submissions to:
Justice Committee
Scottish Parliament
Holyrood
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
We welcome written evidence in any language.
Policy for Handling Written Evidence
Before you submit your written evidence, please ensure that you have read our policy on treatment of written evidence received by subject and mandatory committees (pdf 15kb). Written submissions will be handled in accordance with this policy.
For details about the Committee’s work on the Railway Policing (Scotland) Bill please contact Peter McGrath, Clerk, 0131 348 5195.