The Scottish Government should rethink its plans to break-up the British Transport Police in the wake of praise from inspectors, says a union.
Ministers want to merge the Scottish operation of the UK-wide BTP with Police Scotland.
Nigel Goodbank, of the BTP Federation, said the positive report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary makes the integration plans “all the more concerning”.
“The Scottish Government is seeking to break up an effective specialist national police service. In light of this report I would ask them to seriously reconsider their decision,” Mr Goodbank said.
The SNP administration announced a delay to the merger earlier this year, but insisted joining the forces is the most “efficient and effective” way of delivering policing across the country.
The “good” HMIC report said the quality of BTP investigations are “generally of a high quality”, but warned of the impact of a shortage of detectives.
The inspectors said: “The force should ensure that detectives’ workloads remain manageable once the crime allocation policy has been fully understood and established.”
Mr Goodband added: “The report recognises the shortage of detectives, which is an issue across England and Wales, and highlights some other areas for improvement.
“But our members continue to work extremely hard and make the best of the resources available to them.”
