We are delighted to welcome Ron Barclay-Smith as the new Chair of the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA);  he takes over from Esther McVey, who stepped down last year, and Mark Phillips who has led the work of the Authority as interim Chair since April 2017.

We look forward to working with him to define the Authority’s  work over the next four years; it will be a busy time during which we will be launching a number of programmes to implement our new Strategy for policing the railways to 2021.

Charlotte Vitty, Chief Executive of the BTPA, said ‘we are looking forward to welcoming Ron to the Authority to build on the foundations laid this year, as we have approached the resetting of our future strategy and governance structure. It is an exciting time within the BTP, BTPA and the wider rail network, and Ron will be very well placed to work with stakeholders to continue to position the BTP at the heart of this ever growing industry. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both Mark Phillips and Len Jackson for their leadership and support since Esther McVey’s departure in April 2017.’

Mr Barclay-Smith is a former RAF officer, and is currently a non-executive director at the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority. He also has extensive experience in various chief executive roles in, among others, the legal and health sectors, and chair roles, including in the charity sector, following his career in the RAF. He joins the Authority for a period of four years from 5 March 2018.

The BTPA is seeking feedback on its draft Strategy for policing the railways until 2021.

Our ongoing review of the operating environment, and feedback received from our stakeholders, suggested our current strategy needed to be revisited before its planned end date.  As such, we are now consulting on the proposed strategy for the British Transport Police (BTP) for 2018-21.

In our 2013-19 Strategy we set out ambitious objectives for the BTP to deliver a high-quality , specialist policing service for the railways.  While our three ‘hard measure’ targets have not been fully met, we believe we have achieved our overarching aim and remain committed to consolidating BTP’s performance in these areas over the life of the new strategy.

However, the Force and our industry partners have made compelling representations about the need to consider an adjustment to a strategy which focused the BTP’s activities on tackling volume crime towards one which was more focused on addressing crimes and incidents which cause greatest threat and risk to people travelling and working on the railway network. As such, we secured support from our partners to conclude our strategy a year early and to move away from numeric success measures during our transitional year, 2017/18.

The feedback received during this consultation stage will be reviewed by the Authority’s Strategy and Planning Committee and used to inform its final recommendations to the full Police Authority.

We invite your views on;

• our planning assumptions
• areas for BTP to focus on over the next three years.

The draft proposals on our Strategy are set out in our supporting document, which includes a number of consultation questions to highlight the key areas in which we are seeking feedback. The closing date for written comments on the Strategic Plan is Friday 2^nd March and guidance on how to respond is included in the attached pack.

The consultation on our supporting policing plans for 2018/19 is also live and you can submit your comments using the Policing Plan survey. The closing date for responses on the draft Policing Plan is Monday 26^th February.

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.

The British Transport Police Authority is pleased to announce that Charlie Doyle has been appointed as Assistant Chief Constable role at the British Transport Police (BTP) with responsibility for the Public Contact and Specialist Crime portfolio.

With an impressive background in Neighbourhood Policing, Charlie became temporary ACC for Surrey’s neighbourhood portfolio in 2016, after reshaping the role of neighbourhood policing in the Force. He has also been both Divisional Commander and Superintendent Operations for North Surrey.

Charlie will join the Force on 19 September from Surrey Police, where he is currently Head of Transformation and Change at Surrey Police.

Mark Phillips, interim Chairman of the Authority, said “I am very pleased to announce Charlie Doyle’s appointment as the new Assistance Chief Constable at BTP. He brings a great deal of knowledge and experience from his 29 years at Surrey Police, and I am sure he will be an excellent addition to the senior officer team at the Force.”

Charlie said: “I am absolutely delighted to be taking up my new role at BTP – and hugely excited to be starting the next chapter of my policing career with you.

“Having served in Surrey for 29 years, I was only ever going to choose a role that I was particularly passionate about – and I couldn’t miss an opportunity to join such a specialist force at what is a critical time for frontline policing.”

Mark Phillips went on to thank Chief Superintendent Paul Brogden for his work as Temporary Assistant Chief Constable since March. Mark said, “I’d like to also take this opportunity to thank Paul Brogden for his excellent work as Temporary Assistant Chief Constable over the last six months, he has done an excellent job looking after the Public Contact and Specialist Crime portfolio.”

The Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, has agreed the reappointment of three members of the British Transport Police Authority. Dominic Booth, Andrew Pollins and Stella Thomas, who are coming to the end of their first terms as Authority members, will now serve a further four years from the expiry of their current terms.