Police Scotland Rail Plan Condemned

Plans for Police Scotland to take control of law and order on the railways from British Transport Police (BTP) are ill-conceived and dangerous'', a union has said.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union argues specialist skills built up over years would be lost in the move, announced by Justice Secretary Michael Matheson last week.

The Smith Commission on further devolution recommended that railway policing be devolved to the Scottish Parliament and the UK Government has included it in a draft devolution settlement.

Under the Scottish Government's plans, BTP will no longer operate as a separate force in Scotland, despite wanting to continue providing the service with oversight by Holyrood instead of Westminster.

The integration of BTP's functions and more than 200 officers into the single service has been criticised by opposition parties as an attempt to centralise services and reduce accountability.

RMT accused the Government of riding roughshod'' over specialist advice by pressing ahead with the plans.

General Secretary Mick Cash said: It is sheer arrogance on the part of the SNP Government that they are ignoring the advice of the BTP and those who work in the railway industry and are forging ahead with plans to merge this important and distinctive policing operation into the wider force.

Skills and expertise in dealing with the specialist policing needs on the railways would be lost for ever and would result in an inferior policing service which would impact on staff and passengers alike.

RMT stands alongside our sister rail unions in opposing these ill-conceived and dangerous plans.''

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: The Scottish Government has had a clear position on the British Transport Police since before the implementation of Police Scotland and we wrote to the UK Government in 2011 on this issue.

We agree with the cross-party Smith Commission recommendation that responsibility for their functions should be devolved.

The Scottish Government is keen to ensure that the specialist skills and knowledge of the railways held by BTP officers is maintained.

Over the course of 2015, we will continue to engage with all stakeholders including the BTP, the BTP Authority, the BTP Federation and the rail industry on how this can be most effectively achieved within our national Police Service.''