THE SNP’s flagship plan to merge Police Scotland and the British Transport Police has effectively been abandoned, with ministers focusing on an informal relationship instead.

In a letter to MSPs, Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf confirmed officials were now “exploring new governance and accountability mechanisms” for policing Scotland’s railways.

In particular, they were working on an open-ended “interim model” using existing legislation to give the Scottish Police Authority a “stronger oversight role” of the BTP in Scotland.

READ MORE: Agenda: BTP merger standoff threatens constitutional crisis for the SPA 

He told Holyrood’s Justice Committee that a merger of the two forces north of the border remained the Government’s “long-term goal”.

But he also said the interim model was “sufficiently ambitious to deliver in practice” and would be allowed to “settle in” before any thoughts were given to changing it.   

He said the oversight model was the “general consensus” among stakeholders.

It means the Railway Policing (Scotland) Act 2017 which was supposed to merge the forces would not be put into effect, and its commencement kept “under review”.

READ MORE: Leak: SNP Government shelved railway force merger after £100m black hole identified 

He said: "My officials have been working with stakeholders to explore further the options for enhanced accountability to the Scottish Parliament.

"The options discussed ranged from voluntary information-sharing agreements to exploring new governance and accountability mechanisms.

"Last month's event demonstrated a general consensus among stakeholders that legislation currently in force could be used to create an arrangement that facilitates a stronger oversight role for SPA in relation to railway policing in Scotland.

"Both the SPA and British Transport Police Authority have committed to exploring that option further and discussing how it might work in practice."

He added: "I recognise that BTP staff and officers in Scotland deserve clarity and stability going forward and I am confident that exploring the above mentioned arrangement in further detail will provide a viable medium term option to enabling governance and accountability of the delivery of railway policing in Scotland."

Opposition parties said Mr Yousaf should come out and say the botched project was dead.

The merger, which was fiercely resisted by BTP, was supposed to take place by April 2019.

However in February in this year it was shelved indefinitely because of pay and conditions problems, including a potential pensions black hole of £100m.

Police Scotland, who backed the transfer of BTP functions and around 200 BTP staff, admitted the 2019 deadline could not be met “without compromising public safety”.

After years of trouble under former Justice Secretary Michael Matheson, Mr Yousaf took it in the June reshuffle and soon admitted there were fundamental concerns with it.  

In September, he told the Justice Committee that “all options” would be re-considered.

Labour said there had been a “humiliating U-turn”, and criticised the SNP for pressing ahead with the merger in the teeth of opposition from trade unions, experts and the public.

MSP Daniel Johnson said the merger idea had to be killed off permanently to reassure officers and allow other options to be properly pursued.

He said: “It is welcome Mr Yousaf has finally recognised the plan to merge is a non-starter and is now pursuing alternatives.

“The SNP government must now take the possibility of a merger of BTP and Police Scotland completely off the table. This letter confirms that they need to find another option but refuses to admit full integration is a ‘dead parrot’ policy.

“Such a move would provide clarity for officers themselves, as well as allow the proper consideration of other options. The SNP government has really messed this up – and now it must start the work to put it right.”

Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: “The SNP’s desire to break up the British Transport Police was rooted in dogma. It’s no surprise to see ministers row back on this again.

“Humza Yousaf should now make clear this was a terrible idea, hated by the industry, and scrap the merger plan altogether.”

LibDem MSP Liam McArthur said: “This disastrous saga should leave SNP ministers feeling suitably chastened. When less risky proposals were first presented, the Scottish Government dismissed them out of hand.

“They chose instead to barrel ahead with abolishing the BTP in Scotland even though no detailed business case existed. That decision cost millions of pounds and alienated the very staff who would be needed to make the policy a success.

"For BTP officers and staff the future remains uncertain. The Justice Secretary should ditch the original plan, given two years of work has shown it to be unworkable, and focus instead on the other viable options for the future of this service."

Manuel Cortes, head of the TSSA rail union, said: "I am glad Humza Yousaf has had the political courage to reverse his predecessor’s decision.

"The breakup of BTP and its merger with Police Scotland was opposed by everyone involved in railway policing from the bobbies on the trains to the senior management, to the unions, to the train operating companies.

"But previous Justice Secretary Michael Matheson put nationalism ahead of national interest and pushed ahead anyway.

"Now Humza Yousaf has admitted to the Justice Committee that the aim of greater oversight of railway policing by the Scottish Government can be achieved without an expensive and traumatic breakup.

"Michael Matheson should hang his head in shame today for all the unnecessary stress he’s put our members, and the BTP Police Officers through for what was little more than a nationalist vanity project.”