Transport police morale ‘low’ ahead of merger with national force

MORALE WITHIN the British Transport Police (BTP) is low as a result of “uncertainty” caused by the forthcoming merger with Police Scotland, a new report has revealed.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) called for issues over the impact the amalgamation would have on staff and officers’ terms and conditions to be resolved at the “earliest opportunity”.

The police inspector’s latest overview of the BTP also warned the “scope and scale of the challenges and complexity posed by the transfer should not be underestimated”.

Derek Penman, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, said: “It is not a merger of one complete organisation with another, but the partial extraction of a function from one organisation and its integration into another organisation.

“Throughout the transfer process, both BTP and Police Scotland must continue to deliver an effective service.”

He added: “While both organisations provide a policing service, there are fundamental and significant differences in the way they operate. BTP is a police service paid for entirely by the rail industry and which has an ethos and commercial awareness which is quite distinct from other police forces.”

As a result he said the merger – which is due to come into force in April 2019 – was “quite different” from the creation of Police Scotland in 2013, when eight regional forces were brought together to form a national body.