We at the British Transport Police Authority are immensely proud of the response by BTP officers and staff to the Manchester bomb and the aftermath.  We continue to be impressed by the manner in which they have dealt with the increase in pressure and workload as a result of this event and the subsequent temporary raising of the threat level to critical.  The Force has demonstrated its professionalism and expertise, with many going above and beyond. The Authority fully supports the Chief Constable and senior team and we have full confidence in the Force’s work – we thank them for all their hard work and dedication. It is gratifying to know that the public shares this view as we see from the raft of positive feedback that BTP has received from social media.

In the wake of events like this it is especially important that BTP and other police forces provide the reassuring presence that only uniformed officers on patrol can. The combination of officers being visible, while being vigilant and approachable gives people travelling the confidence to go about their day to day lives as normally as possible.

Mark Phillips
Deputy Chairman

Charlotte Vitty
Chief Executive

Esther McVey has formally resigned her position as Chairman of the BTPA following her selection as the Conservative Party candidate for the Tatton Constituency in the upcoming General Election.

Mark Phillips, the current Deputy Chairman, will be fulfilling the duties of Chairman until a permanent replacement can be appointed.

Charlotte Vitty has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of the British Transport Police Authority. Most recently Charlotte has been working as the Acting Chief Executive since January, having been Finance Director for the previous two years. A qualified accountant, Charlotte has over 15 years’ experience in both private practice and the commercial market.

She spent five years with PwC working primarily with entrepreneurs and private equity Boards as an audit senior manager, covering a multitude of industries from web based service providers Ebay and Jobserve, to fashion retailers Jigsaw and Phase Eight. After leaving PwC, Charlotte joined Instant Group as the Financial Director where she worked alongside the founder and MD to grow the business.

Esther McVey, Chairman of the BTPA said, “I am delighted to announce that Charlotte Vitty has been offered and accepted the role of Chief Executive of the British Transport Police Authority. Despite stiff competition from the other applicants, Charlotte’s experience and skills marked her out as the best candidate.

“The BTPA has a very demanding workload at the moment but I am confident that Charlotte has all the required skills and is more than capable of achieving success. Most recently, she has proved herself during her time as Acting Chief Executive and I am sure she will be very successful in the role.”

We are excited to share with you the interim plans for policing Great Britain’s railways in 2017/18. For train operating companies, the travelling public and railway staff these plans will be central to ensuring everyone’s safety and keeping everything moving. We have worked closely with the Chief Constable, his senior team, the rail industry and passenger groups, as well as surveying rail staff and passengers, to ensure that the commitments we have agreed meet the demands around policing the rail network.

We’ve developed a national picture of key policing issues that cut across rail boundaries and regions devising seven commitments areas for the Force to work towards. We’ve also put in place local plans with divisional commitments driven by consultation with passengers and the rail industry at a local level.

This year’s plans look a little different as they mark a move away from a target based approach to a series of commitments made that will continue to deliver on the core objectives of reducing crime, tackling disruption and increasing confidence.

20:20:10, the strategy set in 2013, has achieved significant positive changes in BTP enabling it to focus on developing the right behaviours to tackle crime, reduce disruption and boost passenger confidence. The challenges involved in policing the railways are constantly changing so we must remain agile to meet the demands of the environment in which we operate. With this in mind, 20:20:10 will no longer be the key measure of success, as we move to a more comprehensive way of measuring performance whilst maintaining focus on tackling crime, disruption and confidence. We will be working through the year with industry partners to refine the measures we use to assess performance against the commitments.

The full version of the plans will be available later in the year.

Mark Phillips has been appointed as the new deputy chairman of the BTPA. Mark, who has been a board member of the BTPA since 2013, replaces Brian Phillpott, who left last year. Mark is also currently Chief Executive Officer at the Rail Safety and Standards Board. He has 30 years’ experience in the rail industry starting at British Rail Western Region in Swindon in 1986, his career includes working at Network Rail as Regional Director for Anglia and as Deputy Managing Director for the Greater Anglia franchise.