The Department for Transport has appointed Ray O’Toole as interim BTPA member for a 12 month period.

Ray officially joined the Authority on 2 November and will play a vital role in overseeing the work of the British Transport Police.

Ray joins with solid experience in this role having previously served as a member of the Authority from 2005 – 2009.

Andrew Figgures Chief Executive of BTPA said:

“Ray is a welcome addition to our organisation and to our body of members. His knowledge and passion for the rail industry will be invaluable as we guide the work of the nation’s railways police.”

Currently the Chief Executive of Essential Fleet Services, Ray was also Chief Operating Officer for National Express with responsibility for all fleet performance across the global organisation. Ray is a qualified mechanical engineer, who formerly served as Director of Engineering for First Group.

Esther McVey has been appointed as the new Chair of the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA), for a four year term.

The new Chair will play a vital role in setting the strategic direction of the BTPA to ensure that the British Transport Police (BTP) – which polices Britain’s rail network – is an efficient and effective force that provides excellent service, maintains the security of the transport network, and delivers value for money for the taxpayer.

Esther, who officially takes up her post today, got a taste of her new role when she briefly visited BTP’s offices with the Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin yesterday. Esther and Patrick met the Chief Constable of BTP Paul Crowther and discussed transport safety as well as touring BTP’s CCTV facilities.

As part of her role, Esther McVey will work with the BTP to oversee transport security and to tackle the issue of sexual violence on the rail network.

The appointment was made by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin following an independent selection process.

Patrick McLoughlin said:

“The security of the travelling public has never been more important and Esther McVey will bring considerable skills to this vital task. Although Britain has one of the safest railways in Europe we face increasing risks that mean there can be no room for complacency. The British Transport Police do a fantastic job keeping passengers safe and secure and I am confident that under Esther’s guidance that record can continue.”

Responding to the announcement Andrew Figgures Chief Executive of the Authority said:

“I congratulate Esther on her success in being appointed Chair of the BTPA.

“She will provide strong leadership to the Authority in governing BTP so that it delivers value for money by achieving its strategic goals of reducing disruption and crime whilst increasing passenger confidence within a tight budget.”

New Chair of BTPA Esther McVey added:

“With more and more people using the railways, the role of the British Transport Police in allowing people to travel safely is more important than ever.  I am delighted to have been appointed Chair of the Police Authority and am honoured to be taking up this role. I look forward to playing my part in building on the excellent work the British Transport Police does.”

Chief Constable Paul Crowther said:

 “I welcome Esther as the new Chair of the BTPA. She joins us at an exciting and challenging time as the Force delivers a significant change programme to enable us to achieve our strategic objectives of reducing crime and disruption and increasing confidence levels.

“I met Esther yesterday when she visited our CCTV hub with the Secretary of State for Transport and I look forward to working with her as we build on our specialist approach to meet the current and future challenges of policing the rail network.”

British Transport Police Authority’s (BTPA) new Chair, Esther McVey, praised BTP’s innovative working following visits to the British Transport Police’s Specialist Operations Support Unit, Central London Police Station (CLPS) and Euston station hub team last week.

Esther met Superintendent John Conaghan from the Counter Terrorism Support Unit (CTSU) at Blundell Street to find out more about how BTP are at the forefront of preventing terrorist attacks on the rail network and the work that goes on behind the scenes. She also had the chance to learn about the Football Unit and how the force are focusing on tackling football-related anti-social behaviour on board trains and at stations.

Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Martin Fry welcomed Esther to CLPS and gave an overview of current operations and priorities across B Division before introducing her to the Dip Squad and Sexual Offences teams.

 

BTPA Chair Esther McVey said:

“It was great to get a chance to see first-hand the wide range of strategic and operational issues BTP has to deal with each day and the different tactics and resources it can deploy, alongside its rail industry partners, to address them.

“I believe it’s important that as Chair I appreciate the reality of delivering policing on the railway and to help me with that I look forward to spending an evening shift with the Force shortly and being part of a team deployed to a football policing operation.”

Chief Superintendent Fry said:

“It was great to meet BTPA’s new Chair and to get the opportunity to discuss the range of work we do here on division and challenges that we face for the New Year. Hopefully the tour was insightful and revealed more about our capabilities and how we use these as a specialist force.”

Esther concluded her visit by heading over to meet Chief Superintendent Paul Brogden, who is working for Network Rail and leads on tackling disruption, before meeting the hub team at Euston station.

Talks with the UK’s rail industry began this week with the British Transport Police Authority and BTP embarking on nationwide consultation to determine the priorities for policing Great Britain’s trains and stations next year.

Events are taking place across the country with invited senior representatives from train and freight operating companies, Scottish government, Rail Delivery Group and Transport Focus discussing what BTP will need to focus on next year in order to assist in the safe and smooth running of the country’s rail network.

So far talks, which kicked off in Birmingham on Monday, have included identifying opportunities to improve how BTP supports staff and focusing on activities that increase confidence as well as maintaining a focus on increasing the identification of the perpetrators of crime.

Rail industry colleagues who have attended events so far, including Andy Cooper MD of CrossCountry and Virgin Trains Executive Director Phil Bearpark, have expressed a real appetite to work alongside BTP as delivery partners to assist in the intelligent deployment of police and industry resources and the sharing of information to direct those deployments.

To ensure a broad range of views are taken on board this year’s consultation coincides with BTP’s passenger consultation, which is seeing local police teams out and about asking commuters and rail staff ‘what matters to you?’ when it comes to policing. Feedback from both sets of consultation will be used to set the priorities for rail policing in 2016/17.

Consultation with the UK’s rail industry and Scottish & Welsh representatives closes on 13 November and will be followed up by a draft of policing priorities which the rail industry will comment on in the New Year. BTP’s passenger consultation ends 23 November.

You can keep updated on the progress on the plans for policing Great Britain’s railways 2016/17 or if you work in the rail industry and are interested in attending an event please get in touch.

View the latest policing plans.

Officials from UK and Scottish Government joined senior passenger and rail industry representatives in London last week to discuss the future of policing Great Britain’s railways and the current issues affecting the British Transport Police (BTP) and rail (24 September).

Invited guests, including representatives from Transport Focus, TfL, Rail Delivery Group (RDG) and freight and train operating companies were attending the British Transport Police Authority’s (BTPA) Annual Industry Workshop where a clear message of collaboration and a willingness to engage threaded through talks delivered on the day.

Opening the event, acting Chair of the BTPA Brian Phillpott reminded guests of the commitments the Authority had made at last year’s event and confirmed that the Authority is still guided by those principles which were designed as a result of industry feedback.

Setting the scene for policing, the Chief Constable of BTP Paul Crowther shared with guests the complexities and challenges of policing a major transport system which unlike other transport hubs, cannot adopt airport style security measures and yet would result in massive disruption costing society billions if under terrorist attack. During this period of heightened security the Chief discussed how it is more important than ever to work with industry to prepare and develop plans. Reinforcing the theme of collaboration, the chief reminded delegates that the ambition of the Authority and the Force is for BTP to be the supplier of choice and not just a service that the rail industry has to fund. Pointing to the value the BTP adds to the rail industry, Paul discussed the additional functions performed by the Force that do not constitute core policing yet saves industry and society billions each year. These value added services, such as preventing trespass or suicides, were picked up later in a presentation by the Chief Executive of BTPA Andrew Figgures who discussed the Force’s budget.

Andrew encouraged industry to consider how much it values the performance of these additional duties – which fall outside the realm of statutory policing – and as such could be compromised by government cuts. He invited guests to engage with the Authority and the Force to better understand the issue and the potential impact on a service that has been collaboratively fine-tuned over the last decade.

Guests were also invited to get involved in consultation kicking off next month that will be used to design the plans and priorities for policing in 2016/17. Liz France Deputy Chair of the Authority highlighted how the 2015/16 policing plans evidenced the strong correlation between industry requests and a Force and Authority response. This included the delivery of local problem solving plans and a breakdown of the deployment of Force resources across the rail network and Liz appealed for active industry engagement this year. The wider issue of a government review, which could mean the scrapping of police targets, was also raised by the deputy chair who encouraged industry to talk to the Authority about this matter to determine whether targets are still the right approach for the rail community. This was followed up by a presentation by RDG who described the work it was doing to assist and support policing and security on the railways.

Before closing the annual workshop Brian, who had chaired a lively Q&A with industry guests and speakers said: “We welcome the challenges and input from industry today as it improves relationships and the services we deliver.”

To compliment upcoming policing plan consultation, industry heads of security will be sent a survey later in the year to help better understand their needs for policing in 2016/17 and to measure how they feel the Authority and the Force have performed over the last 12 months.

BTPA Chair Brian added: “I am confident that guests who attended this year’s event will take back the message that both the Authority and the Force are eager to continue to do business and provide a service that is backed and directed by the people who use it.”

Click on the links below to view slides from the event:

Paul Crowther Chief Constable, BTP: Policing update

Liz France Deputy Chair, BTPA: Policing plan 2016/17

Andrew Figgures Chief Executive, BTPA: Impact of Spending Review 2015

Andy Odell, RDG: One year on