Future of British Transport Police - fifth report of session 2005-06, Vol. 1: Report, together with formal minutes (Paperback)

The British Transport Police (BTP) is responsible for delivering a safe railway environment on the national overland railway network, and a number of other mass transit systems such as the London Underground, London Docklands Light Railway, Midland Metro Tram System and the London Croydon Tramlink. A Government review published in September 2004 rejected any suggestion that the BTP should be merged or linked to the Metropolitan Police or Home Office county forces. Yet, the Committee was surprised that another review - the fourth in five years - was announced in October 2005, coinciding with the review of 43 local police forces by the Home Office. The Metropolitan Police Authority, in response to the Home Office review, suggested a strategic merger of the Met Police and the London element of the BTP. The Committee finds no valid reasons for this proposal, as clear up rates for serious crime are little different, there are no communication problems between the forces, and no details have been presented of the plan itself nor of value for money savings of a merger. The BTP's effectiveness in anti-terrorism operations had been questioned, but the Committee finds no evidence that would justify the force's break-up on those grounds. The Committee exhorts the Government to establish a sensible system of funding, to remove the necessity for protracted negotiations with the train operating companies about their contributions and timely payment. Finally, the Committee rejects the "bizarre" notion of privatisation of the force, which is one of the current review's options.