Annex A - Terms of Reference

Short-life Working Group to Review Enforcement Powers on Scotland’s Railway – Terms of Reference

Purpose

  1. This paper sets out the remit for the Short-life Working Group to Review Enforcement Powers on Scotland’s Railway. The paper focusses on the membership and logistics for the Working Group and will be discussed at the first formal meeting on Thursday 8 May 2025.

Remit of the Group

  1. On 15 May 2024, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport hosted a roundtable discussion with representatives from ScotRail, British Transport Police, Network Rail, Scottish Rail Holdings, all four rail trade unions, passenger representatives, a researcher of women’s safety and White Ribbon Scotland to explore antisocial behaviour on Scotland’s railway. Following this extensive collaboration with key stakeholders and in partnership with rail delivery partners, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport developed a suite of initiatives to tackle and prevent antisocial behaviour on Scotland’s railway, these have since been approved and endorsed by the Scottish Cabinet on 18 February 2025.
  1. The package of measures included the formation of a Short-life Working Group to review the enforcement powers in relation to antisocial behaviour on Scotland’s railway. The Working Group will map and assess current enforcement powers and their effectiveness, with a view to considering where these can be strengthened or developed further. The Working Group will explore:
    1. Fixed Penalty Notices
    2. Banning Orders
    3. Extending protections to rail workers, similar to that of retail workers
    4. Youth Justice

Approach of the Working Group

  1. The Working Group has been established by the Scottish Government, however, external members will have the firsthand experience and knowledge of existing enforcement powers, where there are gaps in understanding of when and how they can be applied, where these powers need strengthened and how individuals are subsequently prosecuted after powers have been enforced. Therefore, the Chair will facilitate ongoing information sharing and dialogue between members of the Working Group, with support from internal colleagues with knowledge in this space.
  1. As the series of meetings begins, members will want to consider the below themes which will guide and inform the discussions of the Working Group:
  • How is antisocial behaviour on Scotland’s railway defined?
  • What powers of remedy currently exist?
  • How regularly are they enforced?
  • Where do challenges exist around enforcement?
  • Are there gaps where enhanced powers may be required?
  • How many incidents of antisocial behaviour on Scotland’s railway are prosecuted by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service?
  • What are the repercussions of prosecution – are repeat offenders common on the railway?
  • How do rail staff feel about existing powers and are they fully aware of what currently exists?

Lifespan of the Working Group

  1. The Working Group has been established on a time-limited basis, therefore the lifespan of the group will be approximately 6 months. The group will meet five times over the first 5 months, with month 6 being dedicated to collating the findings and drafting up the conclusive report for the Cabinet Secretary’s consideration.

Meeting format and frequency

  1. The Working Group will meet every four weeks for five months, which will allow sufficient time for members to gather information and evidence to share with the group. The sixth month will be focussed on collating and analysing the information the group has gathered from meetings 2, 3, 4 and 5.
  1. In order to ensure adequate time is dedicated to each enforcement power, it is proposed that the meetings will follow the below sequencing:
  • Meeting 1: Scene Setting & Agree Terms of Reference
  • Meeting 2: Fixed Penalty Notices
  • Meeting 3: Banning Orders
  • Meeting 4: Extending retail staff protections to rail workers
  • Meeting 5: Youth Justice

The series of meetings will conclude in October 2025 and the next steps of collating the evidence and producing a report for Scottish Ministers will commence, this work will conclude in December 2025.

Secretariat

  1. Transport Scotland’s Rail Policy Team will provide secretariat support. It is important to be clear that the role of the secretariat is to facilitate the work of the Working Group rather than participating directly in discussions. Therefore, the Secretariat will be responsible for scheduling meetings, preparing papers, minutes, and agendas.

Membership

  1. The Working Group will be Chaired by the Head of Rail Projects & Technical Services at Transport Scotland. The group will be supported by attendees from the Scottish Government’s Justice, Community Safety and Police Divisions. There will be representatives from ScotRail, British Transport Police, Scottish Rail Holdings, Network Rail, RMT, ASLEF, TSSA, Unite and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Conclusion

  1. Working Group members are invited to agree to the principles set out in this Terms of Reference

Working Group Membership

Chair

  • Head of Rail Projects & Technical Services, Transport Scotland

Members

  • Chief Superintendent, British Transport Police
  • Staff Officer to Chief Superintendent, British Transport Police
  • Head of Safety & Risk Assurance, ScotRail
  • Security & Crime Manager, ScotRail
  • Operations Director, Network Rail
  • Rail Business Director, Scottish Rail Holdings
  • Regional Organiser, RMT
  • Organiser, TSSA
  • Organiser, ASLEF
  • Industrial Officer, Unite
  • Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service
  • Rail Policy Team Leader, Transport Scotland
  • Head of Criminal Law, Practice & Licensing Unit, Scottish Government
  • Unit Head of Building Safer Communities, Scottish Government
  • Policy Lead, Building Safer Communities, Scottish Government
  • Police Sponsorship Policy Officer, Scottish Government

Secretariat

  • Rail Policy Manager, Transport Scotland