The Department for Transport have published Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Service’s (HMICFRS’s) PEEL report on BTP and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland’s (HMIC’s) Strategic overview of British Transport Police in Scotland including the proposed transfer to Police Scotland. We at the BTPA welcome both reports.
The reports which follow on from an inspection in February 2017, look at British Transport Police’s efficiency and legitimacy. An inspection by HMICFRS later this year will look at the Force’s effectiveness to complete PEEL’s three pillars.
The reports’ findings are very much in line with what the Authority was expecting, for the most part confirming what we already knew. There is some strong performance to be celebrated but also a few key areas where challenges exist and improvements need to be made.
The Authority is glad to see that both reports highlighted BTP’s strengths, as well as identifying areas where the Force needs to improve. BTP can rightly be proud of the excellent work it does keeping rail passengers and staff safe and on the move but there areas where it can do better. The reports’ findings in the areas of leadership and legitimacy were broadly positive, especially regarding the work the Force does to develop leadership capabilities, instil positive values and ethics in its workforce. The reports also praised the work done to engage with communities, the recognition of the importance of a diverse workforce and the way it treats its workforce with fairness and respect.
However, the reports also identified some areas where improvements need to be made, especially around efficiency, project management, IT, forecasting demand, and seeking out and combating corruption within the Force. These areas will form the focal areas for improvement projects going forward. The Authority will use the reports as it continues the process of revising BTP’s overall strategy for 2018-21. The insights from this report into the Force’s performance in the areas of efficiency, leadership and legitimacy will be invaluable as we look at setting BTP’s strategic priorities for the next three years.
Our internal reviews of governance and process had already brought to light many of the concerns raised by the reports and in some cases the Authority and BTP are already making good progress towards resolving these issues. Equally, we are pleased to see that the inspectors were aware of the work already underway to improve the way in which all the Force’s resources are managed.
The Authority has worked with BTP to ensure it has a robust action plan in place across all the issues raised by the reports and we continue to monitoring delivery of it. We will keep you up to date with progress.
Please click here to download a copy of the full reports.