Justice Secretary’s ‘pragmatic and measured approach’ to railway policing merger welcomed

Humza Yousaf

The merger was scheduled to take place in April next year but has been delayed, with Police Scotland now unable to give a “definitive date” for the merger, Mr Yousaf told MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee.

He said it could be that “the interim arrangements satisfy us universally”.

He explained: “And we believe that after a period of a couple or a few years of those arrangements being in place that we are universally satisfied that the accountability has been demonstrated, that we have the best model in place not just to maintain the safety but enhance the safety of the travelling public.

“And if we got to that point frankly we would have to look again at whether the legislation would be commenced or not. That would be one position.”

He also said he was now focused on making arrangements so that politicians in Scotland were accountable for the railways, an original goal of the Smith Commission.

He said: “For me the prudent way of approaching this would be to examine and explore what options there are for interim arrangements to give best effect to the Smith Commission in terms of railway policing, give it a period of time, and that could be open to discussion, and therefore keep that under review.”

Dr Kath Murray, a criminal justice researcher, told Scottish Legal News: “The move to consider different options is very welcome, in particular the acknowledgement that if the interim arrangement works well, the legislation may not go ahead.

“Given full integration is risky and expensive, and unlikely to see lower running costs for the rail industry, this is a pragmatic and measured approach from the Justice Secretary.”