Scots councils call for full involvement in police merger

24 Jan 12
Scottish local government leaders have accepted that the country’s eight regional police forces will be merged into a single national service, but say councils must be fully involved for the change to work.
By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 24 January 2012

Scottish local government leaders have accepted that the country’s eight regional police forces will be merged into a single national service, but say councils must be fully involved for the change to work.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities had previously criticised the merger plan as an encroachment on municipal responsibilities but now sees it as inevitable following publication of the draft legislation last week.

Cosla president Pat Watters, speaking at a Holyrood magazine conference in Edinburgh yesterday, said: ‘Local government has accepted entirely that change is going to happen, and that we need to work together to ensure we get the proper outcomes into the future.’

His acquiescence was echoed by the representative bodies for Scottish police officers. Only the superintendents’ association has backed the reforms from the outset.

But the organisations also expressed continuing concerns about the implications for police operational autonomy, accountability, community involvement and funding.  Heavy emphasis was laid on the independence of the government-appointed Scottish Police Authority, which will supervise the police at arm’s-length from the justice secretary.

Kevin Smith, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers of Scotland, said ‘reform, rather than just restructuring’ was needed to achieve the scale of savings ministers envisage – £1.7bn over 15 years. He pointed out that 70% of spending is on frontline officer posts, whose numbers ministers are pledged to preserve.

Les Gray of the Scottish Police Federation predicted a new targets culture, while Niven Rennie of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents warned ministers against expecting officers to take over back-office tasks when staffing was cut.

The legislation seeks to preserve local linkages by designating area commanders in each council area to report through community planning partnerships. But Watters castigated ministers for failing to embed the changes in a wider outcomes-based reform of public services, achieved by involving councils more.

‘Efficiencies alone in the police won’t deliver what is necessary. You won’t close the gap by just cutting back offices,’ he said. 

‘Who is going to police the reform of the police, the change to a single structure? Who is going to oversee that and make sure we get out of it what we want?’

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