Scots police and fire services set for major shake-up

12 Jan 11
A major shake-up planned for the police service in Scotland could lead to the creation of a single national force, the Scots justice secretary has announced.

By David Scott in Edinburgh

13 January 2010

A major shake-up planned for the police service in Scotland could lead to the creation of a single national force, the Scots justice secretary has announced. 

Kenny MacAskill told the Scottish Parliament yesterday that a consultation would be held on various options, including the establishment of a single police force to replace the existing eight boards. ‘The status quo is no longer tenable,’ he said.

A parallel shake-up of fire and rescue services will also be consulted on.

The proposed changes are seen as part of wider reforms likely to be made in the Scottish public sector. First Minister Alex Salmond has established a commission to review public services in the context of demands for unprecedented spending cuts.

Both consultations are due to begin early next month. They will consider three options: the retention of eight services but with enhanced collaboration; a regional structure with fewer boards; and a single service for the whole of Scotland.

But MacAskill said it was clear to the Scottish Government that the option of the maintaining the current eight police forces with enhanced collaboration would not provide the savings necessary nor the service required to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. ‘That leaves the options of a single force or a regional model,’ he said.

MacAskill acknowledged that ‘understandable concerns’ about accountability and centralisation would need to be answered.

On fire services, he said the government believed there were ‘compelling arguments’ for a single set-up.

The current structure of eight fire boards ‘simply does not lend itself to the most effective collaboration across boundaries’, he stressed. Unnecessary duplication would still exist if there was a model with fewer regional boards.

With Labour and the Scottish Conservatives backing the Scottish National Party’s proposals, a big shake-up in the provision of police and fire services now seems certain irrespective of which party wins the Holyrood elections in May.

However, the Scottish Liberal Democrats strongly oppose the creation of a national police service. Their justice spokesman, Robert Brown, told the Parliament: ‘The idea of a single Scottish police service is bad in democratic principle, bad for local communities and local policing and bad in general terms for Scotland.’

Brown claimed the minister’s statement was notable in ‘not providing even the vestige’ of a figure on which to base the assertion that the reforms would save money.

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