The Government is committed to tackling sexual harassment and assault on the transport network. That is why the Department has set out nine transport commitments within the cross-government ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse’ strategy published in December 2025. These include CCTV access improvements, mandatory training for bus industry staff, safer infrastructure, stronger industry accountability and work on the feasibility of a national reporting mechanism. Tackling sexual harassment and assault on the transport network is a shared priority.

The Government is providing Network Rail with £17 million to improve CCTV connectivity at train stations, enabling greater real-time access for police to accelerate investigations and help passengers feel safer. The project will be connecting existing CCTV images from the highest footfall stations. The Department is also exploring expanding provision and use of CCTV on the bus network to increase feelings of safety and reduce the length of investigations.

My department is also working with the rail industry and British Transport Police to strengthen staff training and support, including industry-wide training for customer-facing staff on responding to reports of sexual harassment, improved reporting arrangements and wider workforce safety initiatives.

The Safer Railway Scheme was launched in May 2026. Rail operators are independently assessed by British Transport Police (BTP) against eight criteria, which now include violence against women and girls (VAWG) for the first time.

Alongside this, the British Transport Police will receive an additional £63 million over the next three years to support up to 180 additional Network Policing officers.

Through the Bus Services Act 2025, we have introduced a mandatory training requirement for drivers and other staff who deal directly with passengers on local bus services. The training requires staff to take action only where it is safe, protecting both staff and passengers. The Department will publish statutory guidance to outline that the training should cover how to identify, respond appropriately to and, where possible, prevent anti-social behaviour and violence against women and girls, later this year.

We will continue to work with industry and policing partners to monitor the effectiveness of these measures and keep under review any further action that may be needed to improve the safety and security of passengers and transport staff.

As has been the case under successive administrations, it is not government policy to comment on the security arrangements of government buildings and this information is withheld on national security grounds.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that facial recognition technology is used with appropriate safeguards. There is an established legal framework governing the use of the technology, including compliance with data protection, equality and human rights legislation.

Local authorities considering the use of the technology must ensure that its use is lawful, necessary and proportionate, and complies with applicable legal requirements.

Local authorities must also have regard to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, which sets out guiding principles for the appropriate, transparent and effective use of surveillance camera systems. The Code, which is overseen by the Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner, promotes accountability, transparency, effective governance and public confidence.

More broadly, the Government has consulted on a new framework for law enforcement use of biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies. The Police Reform Bill will include clearer rules and safeguards, and a single expert body to provide independent advice and oversight.

I refer the Hon Member to the Answer of 20 May 2026 to Question 510.

CCTV is a long-established and widely used tool across England and Wales, operated by a range of public and private bodies to support crime prevention, public safety and investigations.

The Home Office does not direct local councils or police forces on individual decisions about investment in, or deployment of CCTV infrastructure. These are operational decisions for local areas, informed by their assessment of local need, crime and anti-social behaviour patterns, available evidence and resources. The Surveillance Camera Commissioner (SCC) is responsible for encouraging compliance with the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice. The Code provides guidance on the responsible use of surveillance camera systems, including CCTV, by police and local authorities and voluntary adopters in England and Wales. This ensures public trust and compliance with data protection laws.

The Home Office publishes guidance to help police and local councils make effective use of their powers to tackle anti-social behaviour. Under the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, every neighbourhood has named, contactable officers and every police force has a dedicated anti-social behaviour (ASB) lead, responsible for implementing their individual ASB action plan. CCTV may form part of that response where local partners judge its use to be necessary, proportionate and effective.

The National Protective Security Authority provides extensive support to departments to mitigate threats to national security – including guidance on surveillance equipment. This guidance is available to the public on the NPSA Protected Procurement webpage.

In November 2022, the previous administration instructed all government departments to cease deployment of surveillance equipment on their sensitive sites where it is manufactured by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. As I confirmed in my statement on Tuesday 18 November 2025, all sensitive sites originally identified with such equipment have now finished their replacement work.

The National Cyber Security Centre and National Protective Security Agency provide extensive support to local authorities to mitigate threats to national security – including guidance on surveillance equipment. This guidance is available to all, including local authorities, on the NPSA Protected Procurement webpage.

Nearly £17 million has been allocated to this project up until 2029/30. The project is currently in its early stages, with Network Rail developing a Full Business Case for the entire programme which, once complete, may indicate that further funding is required in future years.

All security incidents are investigated in accordance with established procedures, but in line with the practice of successive administrations, the government does not comment on internal security arrangements.

Nearly £17 million has been allocated to this project up until 2029/30. The project is currently in its early stages, with Network Rail developing a Full Business Case for the entire programme which, once complete, may indicate further funding required in future years.

CCTV is a long-established and widely used tool across England and Wales, operated by a range of public and private bodies to support crime prevention, public safety and investigations.

The Surveillance Camera Commissioner (SCC) is responsible for encouraging compliance with the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice. The Code provides guidance on the responsible use of surveillance camera systems, including CCTV, by police and local authorities and voluntary adopters in England and Wales. This ensures public trust and compliance with data protection laws. The Commissioner also provides advice and information to the public and surveillance system operators about the effective, appropriate, proportionate, and transparent use of surveillance camera systems.

The SCC is progressing the delivery of a project to assess how overt surveillance, such as CCTV, can support the Government’s Safer Streets initiative and efforts to reduce violence against women and girls (VAWG). The findings and recommendations are anticipated to be published later this year.

The first duty of Government is National Security and so we treat all potential threats with the utmost seriousness.

In November 2022, the previous government instructed all government departments to cease deployment of surveillance equipment on their sensitive sites where it is manufactured by companies subject to the National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China. As the previous Security Minister said in a debate on this topic on Tuesday 18 November 2025, all sensitive Government sites which were identified as having such equipment had finished their replacement work.

More broadly, the National Cyber Security Centre and National Protective Security Agency provide extensive support to local authorities to mitigate threats to national security – including guidance on surveillance equipment.

Further to the Answer of 26 June 2026 to Question 10713, the rail CCTV connectivity project is in its start-up phase. Network Rail is delivering the project on behalf of the rail industry and will use an agreed model, currently being developed, to prioritise the connection of station CCTV to the cloud-based system. The requested details will be available in 2027/28.

The Department for Transport does not hold information on the number or proportion of bus stops in England that are covered by CCTV. Responsibility for the provision and management of bus stops and shelters, including decisions on features such as CCTV, rests with local authorities.

Further to the answer of 20 May 2026 to Question 510, this work remains in progress by Network Rail, who are delivering the project on behalf of the rail industry. The requested details will be available in 2027/28.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is funding nearly £17 million for a Network Rail programme to connect existing station CCTV to the British Transport Police and wider rail industry into a single cloud-based system. This work is in the early stages of development.

More broadly, CCTV systems across the railway are owned and managed by individual train operating companies and Network Rail. As we move towards the establishment of Great British Railways there may be opportunities to consolidate these systems, but DfT has not made a formal estimate of the cost of this.

The British Transport Police made 9,986 requests to rail operators for CCTV in 2025/26 but they are unable to provide a breakdown of whether the footage was usable or not as it would require extensive manual searching of data records and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The Department has provided Network Rail with £17 million to connect station CCTV to BTP systems, enabling greater real-time access to footage across the network and reducing the need for requests made direct to rail operators.