Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the British Transport Police’s crime-screening policy for pedal-cycle theft at railway stations on (a) public confidence in policing and (b) the delivery of a joined-up national transport network.

Ensuring the railway remains safe for passengers and staff, and creating a hostile environment for criminals on the network is a priority for both the Department for Transport and the British Transport Police (BTP). Decisions on the use of resource and deployment of officers across the railway are for the BTP, as an operationally independent police service.

The BTP’s screening policy, introduced in August 2024, takes into account factors including the possible time window an incident could have taken place in, but also the availability of witnesses and CCTV, the realistic prospect of a successful outcome, and a range of other factors. In some instances this may mean that an investigation is not progressed, but there is no blanket ruling and each case is assessed individually. BTP have not taken the decision to stop investigating bike theft that cannot be narrowed to a two-hour window.

BTP work closely with train operating companies and their counterparts in Home Office forces to run events at stations across the network, which provide practical crime prevention advice and services such as free bike marking to passengers. There was a 23% decrease in cycle theft recorded between 2022/23 and 2024/25.