Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the total annual operating costs of public sector companies succeeding private franchises under the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill ; and if she will provide a breakdown of how the funds currently recovered from private Train Operating Companies for the British Transport Police budget will be accounted for within the financial implications of the Bill.

As train operating companies move into public ownership they will continue to enter into Police Service Agreements (PSAs) with the British Transport Police Authority (BTPA), and we do not expect any change to the existing funding arrangements. The BTPA will continue to allocate policing costs to operators using its cost allocation model.

Since the start of the COVID pandemic, the costs of operating franchised passenger services have been borne by taxpayers, not by private train operators. As a result, public ownership does not in itself create a new funding pressure in relation to British Transport Police costs, and no additional financial assistance is expected beyond costs determined through the Authority’s usual annual allocation process.