The people of Scotland should be confident that they will continue to have the highest standard of policing as the service embarks on its biggest ever period of change.
Chief constable Kevin Smith, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, has given this assurance in response to a Scottish Government announcement that a single police force is to be created north of the border.
Smith stated that he and his fellow leaders of the police service will ensure that the people of Scotland will continue to have high quality policing both during and after the “period of considerable change.”
He commented: “It’s for the Scottish Government and Parliament to decide on the policing structure in Scotland, and it’s confirmed that there is to be a single police service.”
Significant debate on structural options
For over a year there has been significant debate over the structural options, with many different opinions on the best fit for the future. The decision has been made and, for ACPOS, the debate on that is now over.
“As the leaders of the service we are now firmly behind that decision,” asserted Smith, “and it’s our responsibility, our duty, along with Scottish Government to make this work for the people of Scotland and the men and women of the Scottish Police Service.”
The chief constable of Central Scotland Police said that he will lead the effective programme of reform which he and his colleagues will duly develop along with the Scottish Government and policing authorities.
Smith continued: “We will be ambitious in our move towards a new service, but we will also be realistic and recognise the scale and complexity of this huge task while at the same time continuing to provide our business as usual, which is first class, high performing policing.”
As far as Smith’s concerned, policing has adapted and improved over the last generation. “We haven’t simply stood still,” he urged. “Designing a new single structure for Scottish policing will allow us to continue that improvement and ensure we have a modern, highly adaptive service which continues to deliver and perform highly now and into the future.”
He went on to state: “We also need to recognise that we are doing this in a period of significant financial constraint, and it’s right that we ensure we’re as efficient as we can be within our budget.”
Built on strong community relationships
Policing in Scotland will remain built upon strong community relationships and strong partnerships. From the ACPOS point of view, it must remain local in every sense with local officers in communities who know the public and in whom the public have trust and confidence.
“The restructuring provides us with opportunities to further enhance our capacity for modern threats,” explained Smith, “not just now but in the future. Those threats include serious organised crime, terrorism, cyber crime and so on. Community-based policing has been the strong foundation, and will remain so.”
Smith asserted: “This [decision by the Government] will not fundamentally change the policing that the vast majority of the public see day-to-day, but it will change how we are organised. I think that is something the public rightly expects us to get on with while still delivering the service.”
He recognises that there will now be a period of uncertainty for all those delivering policing up and down the country. “We want to ensure that they all have an opportunity to engage and contribute to the transition to help shape the service of the future,” said Smith.
Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill has stated that the creation of a single police and a single fire and rescue service for Scotland will safeguard the vital frontline services on which communities depend.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament, MacAskill set out the benefits of police and fire reform which come against the backdrop of significant budget cuts due to be imposed by the Westminster Government led by Prime Minister David Cameron.
MacAskill has also outlined detailed proposals on how the Scottish Police Service and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will carry out their duties free from political interference, and protect and improve local services across Scotland.
Single police and fire services for Scotland will:
- deliver estimated savings of GB pound 130 million per annum (and GB pound 1.7 billion over 15 years)
- reduce duplication and overheads across eight police and eight fire and rescue services, in turn freeing up resources for frontline policing and fire and rescue services
- establish a strong and formal relationship between each service and each of Scotland’s 32 local authorities, creating designated local officers for each Council area who will work with the Council and other partners to meet local priorities and needs
- ensure clear separation between ministers and the operational responsibilities of services (as is the case at present, ministers will not be able to give instructions on such matters)
- give all communities access to national and specialist services and expertise such as murder investigation teams, firearms teams and fire investigations as and when they are needed
- improve Scotland’s capacity to tackle national threats such as terrorism and serious organised crime and to respond to incidents including the outbreak of severe winter weather
A consultation paper and outline business cases are now published to coincide with the Justice Secretary’s statement. The eight-week consultation sets out proposals on how the new single Scottish services will work in practice, and seeks views on the detail of the new structures.
Crime now at a 35-year low
“All of our communities are rightly proud of the professionalism and dedication of our police and fire and rescue services,” outlined MacAskill. “They are a credit to Scotland.”
North of the border, crime is now at a 35-year low and detection rates are improving, helped by 1,000 extra officers on the streets. Fire-related deaths are presently 50% than a decade ago.
“However, the future of these excellent services is under threat from the spectre of huge financial cuts from Westminster, and the Scottish Government will not let this happen. We have the opportunity to make a virtue of necessity. By reforming, we can make sure money is spent on the frontline and not on unnecessary duplication across eight services.”
For MacAskill, the case is clear – single services for Scotland offer “the best possible chance” of protecting communities from cuts by freeing up resources for frontline policing and fire and rescue services. In essence, retaining local services for local communities. They will deliver estimated savings of GB pound 130 million every year.
“We have consulted widely and engaged with people across the services, with councils and communities and considered all of the evidence,” he continued. “There is broad support across Parliament for single services and strong consensus that we need to reform to safeguard the hard-fought gains the services have made.”
Both services will now be held to account by new, independent bodies. In terms of the police service, the Lord Advocate and Procurators Fiscal will continue to have responsibility for the direction of criminal investigations.
Protecting local services, strengthening community connections
“Reform will protect local services and strengthen connections with communities,” suggested the justice secretary. “The new services will devolve a lot of power to local area commanders who will be given significant autonomy to deliver the right priorities for communities. At the same time, we will ensure more local councillors have a say in shaping services in their area. Parliament will also have additional opportunities to scrutinise the services and hold them to account.”
In closing his statement, MacAskill added that Scotland depends on its police and fire and rescue services, and that the proposals he has outlined before Parliament afford the best chance of sustaining and strengthening these local services across Scotland which communities, quite rightly, value so much.
“Existing structures were created in 1975 when regional councils were established and don’t reflect modern Scotland,” he asserted. “Reform allows us to create first class police and fire services to serve communities for generations to come.”
What are your views on the announcement? Let us know by commenting on this article (simply click the Comment button below…)
Free Download: The Video Surveillance Report 2023
Discover the latest developments in the rapidly-evolving video surveillance sector by downloading the 2023 Video Surveillance Report. Over 500 responses to our survey, which come from integrators to consultants and heads of security, inform our analysis of the latest trends including AI, the state of the video surveillance market, uptake of the cloud, and the wider economic and geopolitical events impacting the sector!
Download for FREE to discover top industry insight around the latest innovations in video surveillance systems.
