Rail staff taught to spot children at risk

Railway station staff, including retail workers and ticket collectors, are to be given training on how to spot vulnerable children. In 2014, British Transport Police (BTP) received around 6,000 reports of child safeguarding incidents at railway stations around the UK. The most common incidents were of children running away or having been reported missing, suspected of or a victim of crime, or simply considered to be at risk.

BTP has now partnered with the charity Railway Children to develop the Safeguarding Children on Transport (SCT) programme to enhance transport staff’s awareness of vulnerable children and young people using the transport network and to identify appropriate responses to make public transport a safer place.

Every five minutes a child runs away from home in the UK and it is estimated that 16,500 children are at risk of sexual exploitation every year, Railway Children researchers have found.

Children in need of care and affection will often seek or accept this in inappropriate places, which is how child sex offenders and abusers operate to groom children without them realising, according to research by Railway Children.

Terina Keene, chief executive at Railway Children, said: “Children often behave in ways we perceive to be troublesome, but this can be the result of things that have happened, or are happening, to them.

“By enhancing the awareness of railway staff and retailers at stations we can create a network of people who understand, identify and support children who are vulnerable or at risk across the railways.”

A report in 2014 by the Parliamentary Transport Select Committee on security on the railways also recognised the vulnerabilities children face in and around railway stations and that improvements to safeguarding are required in order to keep them protected.

BTP Assistant Chief Constable Mark Newton said: “Children are a priority and in forming this collaborative group we are able to share our professional knowledge and ensure that we safeguard children in the best way we possibly can.

“Staff play a vital role in spotting and reporting unusual behaviour. They can be our ‘eyes and ears’ as they go about their day-to-day work by providing us with the information we need to recognise signs of vulnerability or potential exploitation.”

Railway Children is also working with BTP, train operating companies and charity sector partners to ensure better reporting of incidents and to increase availability of emergency accommodation for 16 and 17 year olds.

Mr Newton added that while these incidents were rare, he is urging anyone who sees something that does not feel right to report it to BTP, “however small or insignificant they may think it is”.

Cat Gibson, station contingency and interface manager at Network Rail, said they were “committed” to working with BTP and the Railway Children as part of this initiative.

“Frontline staff at our managed stations deal with millions of people every day and these workshops will give them the guidance and confidence to alert the police to situations of concern that might otherwise go unnoticed,” she said.

The table below shows the number of times BTP dealt with children involved in incidents brought to the attention of the force (January 1, 2015 to October 31, 2015).

Force area Number of incidents

Pennine 872

South 561

East 447

Scotland 427

Midlands 393

Transport for London 318

Western 172

Wales 169

Total 3,359

BTP has also launched a YouTube video campaign to raise awareness of dementia-friendly stations and encourage sufferers to use the railway knowing they will have the support and understanding of rail staff and police.

BTP officers PC Fiona Andrews and police community support officer Amanda Cooper developed the video, which was funded by Virgin Trains East Coast and Newcastle University’s Dementia Innovation Hub.

Special workshops to support passengers with dementia are being rolled out to rail staff and BTP officers across the North East in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society and the Nort