The British Transport Police Authority has announced 5 new members.
The appointment of 5 new board members to the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA) was announced by Transport Minister Simon Burns today (29 July 2013), strengthening the effectiveness of the authority. The new board members will take up their appointments from September for an initial term of 4 years.
Millie Banerjee, BTPA chairman, said “I am pleased to welcome these new appointments to the Police Authority. They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience of policing, railways and governance in both the private and public sectors. I look forward to working closely with them.”
Biographical details
Stella Thomas
Stella Thomas has recently served on the board of Passenger Focus (May 2006 to April 2013) as national member for Wales, appointed by the Welsh government. During this 7 year period she gained a great deal of knowledge about the rail and bus industry throughout Britain. Her special focus was on the needs of rail passengers in Wales. She worked closely with all the train companies serving Welsh passengers, as well as key partners such as the BTP and Network Rail.
Mrs Thomas was formerly Head of the Independent Television Commission (ITC) for Wales and the West of England, a position she held for 12 years, until the ITC became absorbed into Ofcom, the new independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries. Prior to becoming a television regulator, Mrs Thomas held senior positions in HTV Wales (now ITV Wales) and the Wales Tourist Board (now Visit Wales). She began her career as a teacher, near Brecon in Powys.
Mrs Thomas’ experience at board level has included 10 years on the Millennium Stadium Board, 3 years on the board of Sport Wales and three on the Wales council of Save the Children. Her current part-time activities in Wales include training in the hospitality and tourism sectors.
Catherine Crawford
Catherine Crawford OBE was a civil servant in the Home Office for much of her career, working on policy development and implementation in the Criminal, Personnel, Prison and Police Departments for over 25 years. She then became the Executive Director of the newly formed Association of Police Authorities and subsequently the first Chief Executive of the Metropolitan Police Authority, a post which she held for 12 years until the authority was abolished in January 2012, when she became Chief Executive of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime for a transitional period. In addition to her extensive knowledge and understanding of policing and the governance of policing she is a regular and frequent traveller on the rail network and commuted by train from Cambridge to London throughout her career.
Andrew Pollins
Andrew Pollins joined Transport for London as the Finance Director of London Underground in April 2010 and since then his role has expanded to cover TfL’s other rail operations, including London Overground, Docklands Light Railway and London Tramlink. He oversees the financial management of some of the largest capital programmes in the country as well as the income and expenditure of the Tube which now carries more than 1 billion passengers every year; he is also a Trustee of the TfL pension fund.
During the run up to and during the period of the London 2012 Games he was the Director sponsor for TfL’s very successful Travel Ambassador Programme which saw thousands of TfL staff take on additional responsibilities to support the successful transport plan for the Games.
He was previously the CFO at National Car Parks and also worked for 15 years at Whitbread Plc and Marriott in a number of financial and operational roles.
Dominic Booth
Dominic Booth joined Abellio Group as a main board member in January 2007. Over the next 5 years, he played a prominent part in Abellio’s development, and in 2012 was appointed to the newly created post of Managing Director UK, after winning the Greater Anglia rail franchise. In this role, he is responsible for all Abellio’s business in the UK. He chairs the operating boards of the Abellio London and Surrey bus company and the Merseyrail, Northern Rail and Greater Anglia train operating companies.
Prior to joining Abellio, he had a fast track management career in the UK rail industry. At British Rail, he was involved in creating shadow franchises prior to privatisation, and subsequently headed up the operations team at Connex Transport’s South Eastern and South Central franchises. He left Connex to become Managing Director of the Wales and West Franchise. When Prism was acquired by National Express Group, he became managing director of London Lines where he ran 3 commuter train operators. He was promoted to Deputy Chief Executive of National Express’s trains division before leaving to join Abellio.
Mark Phillips
Mark Phillips studied economics at York University and joined British Rail Western Region in 1986 in Swindon. In 1993 he worked on the privatisation of Trainload Freight based in London and joined the newly formed Railtrack in 1994 – working in Manchester. In 1997 he returned to London as Head of Operational Planning for Railtrack. In 1999 he moved to the Anglia Zone as Route Production Manager and was appointed Zone Director in 2003. On the amalgamation of three TOCs to form one of the new enlarged train operating companies he was appointed Operations Director and Deputy Managing Director for National Express East Anglia in 2004. In 2012 he joined National Express’ Business Development Team and is currently Bid Director for a current franchise competition.
Notes
All members of the BTPA board are appointed in accordance with the code of practice issued by the Office of the Commission for Public Appointments.
Each new member has been appointed for a 4 year term from 1 September 2013. Remuneration will be £15,750 for a time commitment of 30 days a year.
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any declared) to be made public.
Further information about BTPA board members is available on the British Transport Police Authority website.
About the BTPA
BTPA is an independent body of that oversees the British Transport Police. It is composed of 15 members who represent the rail operators and passengers. It maintains the force’s budget, allocates resources and makes senior appointments to the force. For more information, visit www.btpa.police.uk.
British Transport Police is the specialist, national police service for Britain’s railways. It deals with major and minor crime, disorder and incidents, and covers the rail system in England, Wales and Scotland. Its police officers, Police Community Support Officers, Special Constables and support staff are recruited and trained like those of local forces and have the same powers
