Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions she has had with the Rail Delivery Group, Network Rail and British Transport Police on the potential merits of a standalone offence of assaulting a public transport worker.

There is no place for abuse or assault of any worker. Public transport workers and the wider public should be assured that where offenders commit acts of violence they will be arrested and brought before the courts. The railway has its own dedicated police force in the British Transport Police (BTP), to protect rail staff and passengers.

Officials from my Department engage regularly with Rail Delivery Group, Network Rail and BTP, and have highlighted that public transport workers already have extensive protection in existing legislation such as the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 which also covers more serious violence such as actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH), and courts must already consider offences against public facing workers as an aggravating factor under the Police Crime and Sentencing Act 2022. We do not consider that a standalone offence is necessary, or will have the desired outcome of reducing assaults.