Clause 46 - Service outside Police Force
Railways and Transport Safety Bill
4:00 pm
Mr Don Foster (Bath, Liberal Democrat)
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for raising those questions. I understand that the measure relates specifically to a member of the British Transport police operating outside the British Transport police authority's jurisdiction. Presumably, it is likely that such operations will take place in conjunction with another police force, although that will not always be the case. The hon. Lady is right to say that I have already raised the question of what such a person's status would be and whether, if they were a British Transport police constable, they would still have all the rights, duties and responsibilities of a constable while acting for another body. I thought that the answer that I received from the Minister was pretty clear, but as the hon. Lady said, it might be useful to hear it restated. We could check later to see whether the Under-Secretary was consistent in his answers.