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Our first priority is always public safety and our risk appetite, as agreed through the Joint Programme Board, remains low. Until the re-planning exercise is completed, it would be premature to make comment on ICT requirements and costs.

Until the re-planning exercise is complete, it would be premature to make comment on the costs of integration, which will evolve as the Programme develops and decisions are reached.

The development of railway policing agreements is on-going. There are interdependencies with other parts of the Programme, for example the cost allocation model, and so there will be a clearer picture on timescales once the‎ re-planning exercise is completed.

We anticipate that the re-planning exercise will be completed by the end of August. The Programme will then be subject to a robust, independent deliverability assessment, before an announcement is made on a revised date for integration.

The Mobilisation Transition and Transformation (MTT) Programme was established to: coordinate the requirements for operational integration; to design and implement a transition plan for full integration at 1 April 2019; and to consider future transformation of the service. The detailed work it undertook informed the decision to delay integration, having established that significant operational aspects would not be ready by April 2019. Following that decision, and to complement the re-planning exercise, a decision was taken by Joint Programme Board partners to refresh and strengthen the Programme’s governance arrangements, which has led to the creation of a cross-organisational Programme Management Office.

A critical path for the re-plan has been developed and detailed workshops are now underway. We anticipate that the re-planning exercise will be completed by the end of August, at which point the Programme will be subject to a robust, independent deliverability assessment in mid-September.

The Scottish Government has made clear that the integration of British Transport Police in Scotland into Police Scotland is a major programme which must be achieved in an effective, efficient and inclusive manner to safeguard the interests of rail users, the rail industry, the general public, rail staff, and police officers and staff. The Joint Programme Board overseeing the integration, which comprises all partners, seeks to ensure as far as possible that there is no detriment to railway policing in Scotland or the rest of Great Britain.

The re-planning exercise that is currently underway has been complemented by a refresh and strengthening of Programme governance arrangements. These arrangements will include robust assessments of risks and costs throughout the delivery of the integration Programme.

All those involved in delivering this change have a shared interest in arranging events that are genuinely meaningful for the BTP staff and officers who want to hear updates on the change that affects them directly. For that to happen, the Joint Programme Board (JPB) needs to secure maximum attendance from senior leadership across all partner organisations involved in the process.

When it became clear that provisional dates for these events would not achieve that aim, JPB partners took a collective decision to seek alternatives.

The JPB is now working collaboratively to initiate a series of events beginning in June. Dates will be communicated in advance to give officers and staff sufficient notice to enable attendance. Other new, regular communication activity will complement these events.

All our work going forward centres on the need to listen more to those involved in the change and keep them involved and informed.

The Inspectorate of Prosecution recommended that COPFS should work towards a system of notifying all victims of decisions not to prosecute, whether through the use of IT solutions or otherwise.

The Inspectorate recognised that the rights and expectations of victims would require to be balanced with a proportionate response, that notifying all the victims of decisions not to prosecute has resource implications and that IT solutions may assist.

The Inspectorate’s recommendation has been accepted by Law Officers. COPFS will now explore possible approaches to notifying all victims of decisions not to prosecute, including possible IT solutions.

The tripartite working group – comprising representatives of Police Scotland, CoSLA and the Scottish Government - met on 8 March. The meeting was chaired by Police Scotland. There are not currently plans to publish the minutes.

It was a positive meeting at which a range of issues was discussed, including the importance of stakeholder engagement. The group agreed that its initial focus should be to work collaboratively to reach a shared understanding of the issues in relation to traffic regulation at pre-planned events. Work is on-going in that connection. This will give further shape to the next steps of the group. No date is currently set for the next meeting of the group, which is due to be hosted by the local authority representatives.

Police Scotland have advised the group that they would revert to pre-existing arrangements while the work of the tripartite group is on-going.

The Scottish Government does not centrally set targets in relation to the period from caution and charge to verdict in solemn cases. The efficient progression of solemn cases through the justice system is the shared responsibility of Police Scotland, Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) and the defence. Given the complexity of solemn business, which is heard before the High Court and Sheriff and Jury Courts and includes the most serious and complex cases in terms of investigation, preparation and determination, a single solemn system wide target / indicator would not be meaningful when compared to the more immediate, less complex and higher volume nature of summary business.

The efficient prosecution of solemn cases by the COPFS takes place within the legislative framework of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. The 1995 Act sets statutory time limits within which solemn cases must be indicted in both the High Court and Sheriff and Jury Courts. The relevant time limits are dictated by whether the accused is remanded in custody or on bail pending trial. COPFS performance in relation to the prosecution of solemn business reflect the statutory requirements that all indictments are served within timebar. COPFS performance against these requirements is published and available at

The SCTS have confirmed that development work to collect and report management information from first diet to verdict / trial concluded in Sheriff and Jury cases is underway and this performance data will be available in the future.