After three years of trying to push through an unpopular takeover of British Transport Police operations in Scotland, the Scottish Government is about to go back to the drawing board and consider a raft of options first proposed in 2015.

The Herald on Sunday can reveal justice minister Humza Yousaf could be ready to roll back on plans to integrate railway policing with the single Scottish force and may concede that there could instead be an informal arrangement with British Transport Police (BTP).

An internal document obtained by the Herald on Sunday reveals there are now three merger options on the table, two of which would see officers working in Scotland still employed by British Transport Police Authority, with the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) given oversight. When the plan to devolve railway policing was first mooted, three options were suggested by BTP.

But Yousaf’s predecessor Michael Matheson, who is now transport minister, rejected the first two options and spent three years trying to force a takeover of the work of BTP in Scotland. Matheson and Yousaf swapped jobs in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s summer cabinet reshuffle.

A discussion paper marked “OFFICIAL” circulated to key stakeholders this week at a meeting chaired by Scottish Government civil servants shows that three options are now under consideration. Option one is a “non-statutory” governance arrangement involving BTP and the SPA, option two is described as a “statutory route” which would give the SPA “enhanced accountability”, and option three is “full integration”, a policy the Scottish Government pursued when Matheson was justice minister. Option three could take eight years to implement, according to the report.

Rail trade union the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA), which represents BTP staff in Scotland, said the Scottish Government had performed a “U-turn” and called on Sturgeon to sack Matheson for “incompetence”.

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Liam McArthur said millions of pounds had been spent on an “unworkable” merger and Yousaf should now “junk the original plan altogether”.

The functions of BTP in Scotland were due to be absorbed into the national force in April next year but Matheson announced in February that the merger had been postponed, amid concerns about IT and pensions arrangements.

The move followed a scathing report from Scotland's police watchdog which said no authoritative business case was made for the integration. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, Derek Penman, said a detailed study of the risks should be undertaken.

Penman praised BTP officers and staff for their professionalism amid uncertainty about their position. BTP has 213 officers, 38 police staff and 26 special officers in Scotland, who are charged with looking after 358 stations and 1700 miles of track.

After Yousaf took over the justice department, he announced he would “re-examine all options” for the devolution of railway policing, which was originally recommended by the cross-party Smith Commission in 2014.

A Joint Programme Board (JPB) was set up in 2017 to integrate BTP in Scotland into Police Scotland. It is chaired by the Scottish Government and UK government’s Department for Transport (DfT), and includes representatives from BTP, the SPA and Police Scotland.

A JPB paper circulated this week set out the three options and said each of them “will be tested on merit as a standalone solution to deliver devolved accountability and responsibility or as part of a phased approach which may progress to full integration to achieve the desired aim”.

The report said the SPA does not currently have the functions to deliver railway policing. This echoes an SPA report presented to the body’s finance committee last month which said some services may have to be outsourced, resulting in “significant differences to the actual cost base for Police Scotland in integrating BTP-Scotland”.

The JPB report, obtained by the Herald on Sunday, states: “The options appraisal will provide an evidence-based comparison, considering strategic fit with recommendations from the Smith Commission; benefits case; risks/impact to the safe and effective management and operational delivery of railway policing in Scotland and the UK; and costs – including value for money and affordability”.

The document said the timeframe to “generate, capture and test” the three options will be just over two months, and the justice minister will update the cabinet in early December, with an update provided to MSPs who sit on the Scottish Parliament’s justice committee by the end of the year.

TSSA leader Manuel Cortes said: “It's taken three long years for the Scottish Government to finally accept what our members have told it from the outset – that the breakup of BTP and its merger with Police Scotland was unnecessary and unfeasible.

“It continues to be unwanted by anyone connected with our railways in Scotland because it puts passengers and our members at peril. Let's face it, BTP and Police Scotland themselves never wanted it either.

“The U-turn is the right thing to do. It's just a crying shame it's taken them so long to make it. The paper circulated at the Joint Programme Board earlier this week represents a significant change of heart away from the entrenched nationalism surrounding the earlier decision by former justice minister Michael Matheson.”

Cortes praised Yousaf for “having the decency” to review the merger and the “political courage to force his party to accept that it made a mistake”.

The union leader said BTP staff and officers deserve an apology and “recompense for the unnecessary amount of stress and anxiety forced upon them by Matheson's idiotic policy for the last three years”.

An impact report by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) found that 83 per cent of staff and officers who took part in a survey were unsupportive of the merger. “The responses to the online survey demonstrated a deep strain of scepticism, cynicism and opposition towards the integration of BTP functions into devolved policing structures,” said the report.

Co-author of the SCCJR report Dr Kath Murray welcomed the decision to consider the original options. “It suggests a shift away from full integration as an end in its own right, towards an effective devolution arrangement,” the criminal justice researcher told the Herald on Sunday. “Retaining the single specialist service within a devolved accountability structure would allow railway policing in Scotland to be underpinned by principles set by the Scottish Government, build on the respective strengths of the BTP and Police Scotland, and crucially, remove the significant challenges to date, including the risks to public safety and costs to the public purse.”

The TSSA’s Cortes said reasoned arguments made to Matheson about the impact of the merger on staff and officers fell on “deaf ears”. “He never once got that safety and crime prevention on our railways is far too important to be treated like a political football,” he said.

“It's why we now have deep reservations about his position as transport secretary. Put simply, nobody in our business trusts the man or has any confidence in him. Yousaf's decision to overturn the injustice done to transport police staff is an indication of Matheson’s lack of judgement. And frankly, Matheson should be made to resign for his incompetence. It's inconceivable that he can carry on in the transport brief.”

Cortes added: “Whilst I welcome the Joint Programme Board's latest thinking, make no mistake, this is also an embarrassing climbdown for the SNP. If they want us to believe they have integrity when it comes to security and transport policy then they don't just need to sink this dangerous and mindless merger proposal, they need to sack Matheson who has no right to expect trust to be vested in him again.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: “When alternative, less risky options were put forward the Scottish Government dismissed them in a high-handed fashion, choosing instead to barrel ahead with the abolition of the BTP in Scotland without even bothering to develop a proper business case.

“That decision cost millions of pounds, shredded the confidence of staff and took us back to square one. It’s no wonder that officer's representatives have been so critical of ministers' handling (of the matter).

“For BTP officers and staff the future remains uncertain. The new justice secretary needs to junk the original plan altogether, given two years of work has shown it to be unworkable, and squarely focus on the other viable options for the future of this service.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “As the Justice Secretary highlighted to the Justice Committee recently, there is a need to identify interim arrangements that could give effect quickly to the devolution of railway policing, as recommended by the Smith Commission.

“In August, the Justice Secretary committed to re-examining all options with Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, the British Transport Police and other partners. This process is currently underway and is being discussed by the Joint Programme Board. An update on the next steps will be provided in due course.”

The Herald:

TIMELINE OF AN ATTEMPTED MERGER

  • November 2014

Smith Commission published its report on further devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament and railway policing was one of those areas.

  • January 2015

British Transport Police sets out three options for future devolution of transport policing in Scotland. The third option – breaking up BTP and amalgamating Scottish operations into Police Scotland – is described as the “most complex”. This option would have implications for employment and pension arrangements, as well as financial and legal liabilities.

  • March 2016

Scotland Act 2016 is given royal assent, which passed the recommendations of the Smith Commission into law.

  • June 2016

The Scottish Government launched a consultation on option three, the integration of railway policing.

  • December 2016

Consultation responses are published, showing “much opposition” to the policy. “Many considered that a strong case for integration had not been made,” said the Scottish Government’s executive summary.

  • February 2017

A survey of TSSA members found a third would leave BTP in the event of a merger.

  • June 2017

The Railway Policing (Scotland) Act was passed and TSSA launched a petition opposing the merger, which attracted more than 11,000 supporters

  • February 2018

The merger, which was due to be implemented in April 2019, was postponed by former justice minister Michael Matheson.

  • August 2018

New justice minister Humza Yousaf announces a review which will explore further options.

The Herald:

THE 2015 AND 2018 OPTIONS

  • The 2015 options

(source: BTP document ‘Options for the devolution of transport policing in Scotland’)

Option One

This option is the simplest route to achieve devolution – that is, through administrative means, rather than legislation.

Option Two

This option consists of a number of measures, both legislative and administrative, to devolve transport policing within Scotland.

Option Three

This is the most complex route to devolution and it would entail breaking up BTP and absorbing its Scottish operations into Police Scotland.

  • The 2018 options

(source: BTP integration programme Joint Programme Board document)

Option 1

Establish a governance arrangement (non-statutory) through BTPA and SPA (who have signalled that they could work together to establish a non-statutory arrangement to be in place by 1 April 2019).

Option 2

Establish a model for SPA enhanced accountability and responsibility in the delivery of railway policing in Scotland (statutory route to confer on the SPA in relation to railway policing).

Option 3

Proceed to full integration, with date to be informed by Police Scotland (2026 would seem the natural dovetail point in line with PS Transformation Strategy).