A Significant Date for Railway, Dock and Canal Policing?
by Phil Trendall
I recently had the pleasure of preparing a briefing note for the BTPHG on the subject of railway nationalisation and the impact of the creation of the British Transport Commission on policing. Re-reading this I think I under state the importance of the bringing together of the various railway police ‘forces’ under one employer when nationalisation occurred. The key point I was trying to make is that the legislative arrangements for the police were delayed and even then only transferred the power to appoint constables (subject to the approval of magistrates etc) from the private companies to the BTC. Anyway here is a copy of my ramblings on the subject:
1.0 BACKGROUND
1.1 A small handful of people have pointed out that 2023 is the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the British Transport Commission and have raised the question of whether this is a significant date in the history of RDC policing (1)
1.2 2023 is also the 60th (9th December) anniversary of the British Transport Police Force Scheme 1963.
2.0 PURPOSE
2.1 This minute seeks to provide context for these anniversaries.
3.0 TRANSPORT NATIONALISATION
3.1 No government in the twentieth century introduced more social reform than that elected at the end of the Second World War. The creation of the Welfare State, the establishment of the National Health Service and the reform of the education system all took place against a backdrop of wartime and post war austerity. The national infrastructure was worn out and much damaged by enemy action. The railways in particular were in a very poor state after operating at peak capacity throughout the war.
3.2 The railways (and their associated undertakings, including many docks) had been brought together during the war under the strategic direction of the Railway Executive. By 1945 it was clear that the big four railway companies (created as a result of the Railways Act 1921) were not viable commercial entities and that more needed to be done to create an integrated transport network. The railways, trams and buses of the London Passenger Transport Board were already in public ownership as a result of the London Passenger Transport Act 1933.
3.3 The Transport Act 1947 nationalised public transport (excepting most local bus services) throughout Great Britain. The Act was complicated and attempted to draw together very different strands of transport operation. The Act created the British Transport Commission (BTC) as the strategic body that oversaw the management of railways, London Transport, docks, inland waterways, road services, ferry routes and owned hotels. In addition to the big four railway companies and London Transport, over 50 small railway companies were brought together, over a dozen canal operators and more than 200 road haulage operations were also nationalised. The BTC was established on 1st January 1948.
3.4 In practice very little changed at first. Every part of the transport infrastructure needed investment. Money and materials were in short supply. Progress was slow and from the beginning there were concerns that the remit of the BTC was just too wide.
4.0 BRITISH TRANSPORT COMMISSION
4.1 The BTC was divided into executives, including the London Transport Executive, the Railway Executive (a different body to that mentioned above), Inland Waterways Executive, Road Transport etc. The Railway Executive traded under the ‘British Railways’ brand, although this was distinct from the Board that was created in the 1960s.
4.2 The BTC was one of the largest organisations of its kind in the world.
5.0 RDC POLICING
5.1 The police forces (2) of the big four railway companies and the LPTB had worked together very closely during the war. Officers of these forces (and their colleagues on the canals) had faced considerable danger and worked to safeguard the railways and docks of the country at a time when such locations were vital to the successful defeat of tyranny.
5.2 Of course not all docks were policed by these forces and several independent dock forces survive today (see note 1).
5.3 The Transport Act 1947 runs to around 176 pages. However it did not make provision for the policing of the assets of the British Transport Commission, except in that officers serving in the various railway and canal forces were subsumed into the employment of the BTC. The 1947 Act did not repeal those parts of the various railway Acts that empowered companies to appoint constables, so even after the creation of the BTC officers served under the arrangements that existed before privatisation.
5.4 We can see therefore new officers being attested under otherwise obsolete legislation for a few years after nationalisation.
5.7 The 1947 Act does mention the railway police in s97 but only in so far as describes the arrangements for a ‘police conference’ (ie part of the machinery of negotiation for pay etc) which had originally been established by the Railways Act 1921.
5.8 It is not known why the issue of policing did not receive more attention at the time of nationalisation. Being forgotten is a recurring theme in the history of RDC policing. The situation was of course worse at the time of rail privatisation in 1990s.
5.9 Although the government probably did not realise it, one of the consequences of nationalisation was to create a body of constables larger than that to be found in any police force in Great Britain outside of the Metropolis and, possibly, the County of Lancaster. The relative size of the constabulary employed by the Commission continued until the mergers of local forces in the 1960/70s.
5.10 For organisational purposes policing fell under the control of the BTC’s Railway Executive, known as British Railways. For a short period officers were described as belonging to the British Railways Police. Early pictures of the ‘new’ Police Training Centre at Tadworth show courses of the ‘joint railways police forces’ and also of the British Railways police.
5.11 The BTC had its own grant of arms. Part of the arms, the shield, forms the badge, (used within a Brunswick Star), of the British Transport Police. The current entitlement to the use of the shield by BTP is unclear. The BTPHG holds an official copy of the armorial bearings signed by the officers of College of Arms in 1956.
6.0 BRITISH TRANSPORT COMMISSION ACT 1949
6.1 The Transport Act 1947 was a public general act. However the BTC (and other statutory undertakers) could sponsor ‘private’ or ‘local’ acts of parliament. This was the mechanism used by such bodies to obtain authorisation for new works etc. This system had been used since the earliest days of the railways and continued until the Transport and Works Act 1992 simplified authorisation processes.
6.2 Unfortunately for the police historian interested in RDC forces, such acts of parliament are numerous and sometimes include provisions touching on policing and crime. The text (and even more so subsequent amendments) are hard to track down and are now considered inappropriate for provisions touching on criminal offences and police powers. (3)
6.3 In 1949 the BTC piloted an Act through parliament. It covered a huge variety of issues, mainly around works and repairs. In Part 7, of the Act: ‘Miscellaneous’, s53, the BTC were given powers to recommend to magistrates persons to be appointed as constables by attestation. The wording of the section reflects that found in the various Acts that provided for the appointment of constables in the post 1921 railway companies.
6.4 The Act of 1949 still has some sections in force. There is no publicly available copy of the current text, which has been amended many times since its original introduction.
6.5 This Act did not create a ‘police force’. It only provided for the appointment of constables in the employ of the BTC. The BTC Police were an administrative body of constables rather than a police force created by law.
6.6 In passing it is worth noting that for many purposes and as a convenience, the BTC Police were often referred to as the British Transport Police or BTP. This can be seen in correspondence and in the descriptions used in registers etc.
7.0 THE TRANSPORT ACT 1962
7.1 By the beginning of the 1960s it was generally agreed that the BTC was not delivering the integration that had been hoped for. More urgent were the serious financial problems of the Commission generally and of the railways in particular. It was decided to split the functions of the BTC into a number of independent Boards, including the British Railways Board (BRB), The British Transport Docks Board (BTDB), the British Waterways Board (BWB) and the London Transport Board.
7.2 The Act (ss70-71) repeats the need for a representative conference on the basis originally established in 1921 and maintained in 1947. At this point the Act allows that each Board may have its own police or share a force of constables attested under the 1949 Act.
7.3 In reality it was clear that a combined force was necessary and s69 of the Act required the railways board to produce and consult on a scheme for the organisation of transport police. Such a scheme required the approval of the Minster of Transport and had to be prepared within one year of the vesting of the new boards.
7.4 Since the earliest days of the railway police, central government always attempted to keep the subject at arms length. As recently as the 1980s questions in the House of Commons would be met with a reminder that railway policing was a matter for the BRB rather than for ministers. It is significant therefore that the 1962 Act made the organisation of the transport police a matter for ministerial oversight.
8.0 BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE FORCE SCHEME 1963
8.1 The Scheme is an important document in the history of RDC policing. It was substantially amended in 1992 but, together with the BTC Act 1949, remained the key legislation governing the force until the coming of the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, (Known in some circles as the ‘Act of Missed Opportunities’).
8.2 The Scheme did not come into force until 1st January 1965. However the arrangements that it contained were already in practical operation.
8.3 The Scheme gave the British Railways Board responsibility for the force and permitted the services of BTP officers to be provided, by agreement and on payment, to the other boards created by the 1962 Act. The force was formally entitled ‘The British Transport Police’ and the Police Committee was recognised.
8.4 As discussed elsewhere (4) the Scheme is the first piece of legislation that creates BTP as a police force with many of the features, but not the same status, as Police Act forces.
8.5 All officers were to be employed by the BRB. BTP officers and their predecessors have always been employees despite also holding the office of constable. This is one of the differences between BTP and other forces. Its significance is hard to detect. Indeed the experience of the railway police makes a nonsense of the frequently encountered statements that the non employed status of Police Act constables is somehow linked to the successful performance of their duties (5).
8.6 Under the Scheme BRB remained the employer of officers attested under the 1949 Act even if the officers were based in areas covered by other Boards and even if they were recruited and paid directly by those Boards. Many BTPHG members will recall the position of officers serving on the ‘LT’ who were paid directly by that Board meaning that a transfer between divisions meant the collection of a P45 even though there had been no technical change of employer. Other unintended consequences can be seen in the aftermath of large events such as the King’s Cross Underground Fire (1987). At the Public Inquiry BTP (including the officers stationed on the Underground) were represented by counsel instructed by the solicitor to the BRB, who took a hands on approach to the presentation of evidence. On occasions when BTP undertook investigations into the BRB it meant that the Board was effectively paying for the privilege of being investigated and prosecuted.
9.0 POLICING IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD
9.1 The Royal Commission into Policing reported in 1962. It arose from national concerns over the constitutional position of police forces (and their chief constables). There was also agreement that there were too many police forces (158) in Great Britain. BTP was not part of the debate or conclusions of the Commission.
9.2 The Report of the Commission led to the Police Act 1964. This Act allowed the Home Secretary to force amalgamations of forces when there was local resistance (a frequent occurrence). The Act itself makes no mention of BTP but the 1963 Scheme was influenced both by the findings of the Commission and by the drafts of the Police Bill.
9.3 The necessary amalgamations of Police Act forces to create the current 43 force structure in England and Wales took some years. Further adjustments were made in the aftermath of local government reorganisation in 1974.
10.0 CONCLUSION
10.1 There is work to be done to check files in the National Archives for correspondence relating to RDC policing at the time of nationalisation. It is also possible that the Royal Commission considered submissions on the role of BTP.
10.2 In the view of the author of this minute, the creation of the British Transport Commission led to the development of the modern force, but this development cannot be assigned to a particular date and that therefore the anniversary of the vesting of the BTC is, of itself, of little import in the history of RDC policing. Other, better qualified, historians of the subject may have a different view. The introduction of the British Transport Police Force Scheme 1963 is perhaps more significant.
Philip Trendall
August 2023
Originally published on the blog: Policing Public Transport: A Neglected History
NOTES
(1) It has become standard practice for historians of the British Transport Police to use the descriptor ‘Railways, Docks and Canal’, or ‘RDC’ policing to encompass the many ancestors of that force. For readers not familiar with the tedious complexity of such matters it is worth mentioning that not all docks were policed by forces that later became the BTP. Docks operated by the Royal Navy were often policed, in part, by the Metropolitan Police and later by the Admiralty Constabulary (now the Ministry of Defence Police). Other docks had their own forces. Some (eg Port of Dover) still do. The Port of London Authority Police was a large force covering the London docks. It was created from the bringing together of several smaller London docks forces. It survives in much reduced form as the Port of Tilbury Police. It is currently commanded by a former BTP officer.
(2) The term ‘police force’ has a precise legal meaning. For the purposes of modern legislation (in England and Wales) the description applies only to forces covered by the Police Act 1996. The current incarnation of the BTP is as a police force for the purposes of the Act that created it, viz the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, and for other purposes where specified in other legislation. No primary legislation before 2003 regarded BTP or its predecessors as a police force of any type. Legislation (including the 1949 Act) frequently empowered the attestation of constables but did not seek to create police forces. However the term ‘force’ was often used informally both by railway companies and occasionally by government bodies. For example Captain Horwood, Chief of the North Eastern Railway Police before the Great War often referred to his ‘force’ (see correspondence held by the BTPHG).
(3) See for example the criticisms of the BTC Act 1949 by the law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission contained in the report referenced below.
(4) See Blog by the present author dated 07 Nov 2022: https://transportpolicinghistory.blogspot.com/2022/11/when-was-first-railway-police-force.html
(5) See for example the original consultation on the creation of a Police Covenant and many statements by the Police Federation of England and Wales.
REFERENCES/LEGISLATION
Railways Act 1921
1921 Ch 55 11&12 Geo 5
London Passenger Transport Act 1933
1933 Ch 14 23 & 24 Geo 5
Transport Act 1947
1947 Ch 49 10 & 11 Geo 6
British Transport Commission Act 1949
1949 Ch 29 12 & 13 Geo 6
Transport Act 1962
1962 Ch 46 10 & 11 Eliz 2
British Transport Police Force Scheme 1963
SI 1964/1456
Transport and Works Act 1992
1992 Ch 42
British Transport Police Force Scheme 1963 (Amendment) Order 1992
SI 1992/364