Police freeze recruitment

Strathclyde Police has announced it will freeze recruitment for both police officers and police staff. The freeze on support staff takes immediate effect, while the recruitment of officers will be suspended after the current intake of 65 probationary officers enter the Scottish Police College this month.

A planned intake of 100 probationary officers to the College between August and October will now not go ahead and all of those affected are being informed of the decision. Thirty of those who have completed the recruitment process will now be placed in an ‘approved for appointment’ pool and may be called upon if and when suitable vacancies arise.

Strathclyde Police currently has 8,038 officers which it pays for out of its own budget. Taking into account officers who are paid for by other bodies - such as the community planning partnerships led by councils such as Glasgow - this figure rises to 8,410.

This decision was taken by the force as a result of the ongoing uncertainty surrounding public sector budgets and has very clearly become an urgent human resources issue impacting on management of that budget by the force.

It directly follows Scotland's senior police meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice last week, when Kenny MacAskill stated that a reduction of up to 10% was now expected next year from Scottish policing budgets, substantially more than was planned and discussed previously with the Scottish Government.

This is an obvious impact of the statement by the Deputy First Minister indicating that Scottish Ministers are "protecting health spending by passing on Barnet consequentials". That must mean bigger cuts in funding for police and local government.

A recruitment freeze had already been implemented in other Scottish forces but this significant increase in the savings target for the coming financial year placed a pressing need on the Strathclyde force to act more swiftly than anticipated on a range of issues.

Restrictions on recruitment were mentioned as a key future measure in managing the impact of savings at meetings of Strathclyde Police Authority over recent months and this had effectively become the case for civilian support staff across Strathclyde Police. Unions were also aware it would be developed as a means of protecting services and jobs in the face of significant cuts, given that local authorities had taken similar steps.

Following my election in April as Police Authority convener, I recently met with UNISON and Strathclyde Police Federation. I recognise how vitally important it is that all unions representing support staff and police officers are informed and consulted by the force as this work develops further.

The prospect of a recruitment freeze was also discussed with senior police as an aspect of the force’s “Change to Improve” service reform programme, informed by the direct experience of the Police Authority's elected members with recruitment freezes already applying in a number of councils across the Strathclyde area.

I met the Chief Constable a few hours after the recruitment freeze was announced publicly and we discussed the context for the decision as outlined above along with other measures to meet the necessary savings for balancing our budget in coming years.

We will clearly be discussing the impact in some detail across the Authority at future meetings. Ideally there should have been time for us to consider this more fully prior to the announcement, but the force understandably felt there was a pressing need to act earlier than anticipated.

I welcome the Chief Constable and Deputy Chief Constable showing leadership in difficult times, by opting today to forego performance bonuses worth over £25,000 and £16,000 each despite their entitlement.

Strathclyde Police is not immune from the financial crisis facing the public sector and the reality of the looming budget deficit means there is little option but to freeze recruitment at this stage.

The Police Authority is keen to reassure officers, staff and the public that every possible measure is being taken to protect services in addressing the severe financial pressures we face.

Single Scottish police force

There has been considerable debate in recent days around the impact of savings on Scottish policing following a meeting of senior police officers, with a suggestion that the eight forces currently serving Scotland could be reduced perhaps leading to one national police force.

Strathclyde's Chief Constable has even indicated that a single force may be more "effective" while the Scottish Police Federation expressed concerns over the costs of possible restructuring.

As convener of Strathclyde Police Authority - the board of councillors responsible for the budget and scrutiny of policing across almost half of Scotland - I recognise that the Strathclyde force has a national strategic role with a level of expertise and resource substantially greater than smaller Scottish forces which may suggest some need for realignment.

With the pressing need for substantial savings in police budgets for the forseeable future, I am very keen for police authorities and forces to collaborate in "blue sky" thinking; every idea should be considered to meet the financial challenges with genuine service reform.

I am relaxed about the number and name of police forces covering Scotland as those should remain secondary issues. The level of service and accountability to communities across Scotland are far more important.

With Scottish ministers stating they will protect health spending by passing on Barnet consequentials, we also have to question any additional impact on funding for police as a vital public service.

There's a real risk of yet more pressure on police budgets, as Scotland's councils fund 49% of policing and they will undoubtedly find greater strain on this resource in future.

It is easy to propose a single force in theory with the current financial challenges facing policing and the wider Scottish public sector, but we would still need to reassure residents in every area of Scotland that they would receive a service that had local autonomy in responding to concerns and demands. This should not simply be a budget-balancing exercise.

That means an honest look at the future shape of Scottish policing and what is really needed to deliver a modern and effective service for communities across Strathclyde and Scotland.

Scotland 'faces £42bn funding cuts'

The public spending squeeze in Scotland is likely to be worse than first projected following the recent UK Budget.

Figures published by the Scottish Government's chief economic adviser Dr Andrew Goudie, project spending cuts of £42 billion over the next sixteen years. A similar study in April estimated reductions of £25-35 billion over 12 to 15 years. The latest report predicts six consecutive years of cuts in real terms, up from the previous assessment of five years.

The Tory-Lib Dem UK Government's Comprehensive Spending Review in October will outline more details of allocations for Scotland's devolved budget. The onus will then be on SNP ministers to set the right priorities for services they are responsible for.

Patient safety undermined

Support Scottish Labour's call to defend the jobs of doctors, nurses, midwives and other essential workers in the NHS.

"The reality of this SNP Government is 'More Nats, Fewer Nurses'. The cuts that the SNP are imposing on the NHS will undermine patient safety and we need to fight them."

"You simply cannot remove thousands of doctors, nurses and midwives without damaging standards of care. Labour believe that these cuts are unacceptable and we will campaign relentlessly to defend the NHS."

"We are also asking MSPs from all parties to back our call on ministers to immediately publish the workforce planning projections for every Scottish health board, so that we know the scale of the job losses the SNP are demanding across the country."

Jackie Baillie MSP
Scottish Labour's Shadow Health Secretary

Ripped off Glasgow

People in Glasgow share the same concerns as any other part of the country – tackling crime, creating jobs and helping families through tough times – but one persistent issue unique to the city is continuing anger at the SNP government ripping off Glasgow.

This made a huge impact when Labour's William Bain was elected Glasgow North East MP in last November’s by-election with a massive 8,111 majority and remained a key issue during the recent General Election for voters in Glasgow.

Despite receiving a record amount of money from Westminster this year from the former Labour government - over £600million more than the previous year’s Scottish budget - the SNP government gave Glasgow a raw deal and there are fears that worse is planned for coming years.

It’s not for lack of trying. While a strong Labour Council, Glasgow has never played petty politics with SNP ministers. We’ve been fair and successful in fighting our corner, securing vital investment to complete the M74 motorway - boosting jobs in Glasgow’s southside and east end - and develop the Cart flood prevention scheme, protecting homes across the south of our city.

That soured over the past year, as SNP ministers:

• Scrapped the Glasgow Airport Rail Link with the loss of 1,000 new jobs, a decision that saw the city’s Evening Times headline scream “BETRAYED” with First Minister Alex Salmond the man “who put a knife into the city”;


• Slashed £260million from housing and regeneration across Scotland, with our city the hardest hit, putting on hold plans for quality affordable housing;


• Declined to give a penny to museums in Glasgow - where Kelvingrove and the Burrell are among Britain’s busiest attractions - yet handed £40million to Scotland’s “national” museums in Edinburgh;


• Restricted funding for every mile of maintaining the busiest streets in Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, to effectively the same formula as any mile on the quietest rural road;


• Refused three Town Centre bids to support Glasgow jobs and businesses in Possil, Parkhead and Shawlands - the latter shamefully in Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s own constituency;


• Excluded Glasgow from the first phase of the SNP’s new school building programme, shunning the city as all our secondaries were rebuilt or refurbished ten years ago.
  

After the North East by-election defeat, SNP ministers hastily awarded Glasgow funding for three new primary schools despite stating only one was on offer, but it’s far from generous. Labour ministers previously funded 80% of new builds while councils found the remaining 20%, but the SNP will only match councils 50/50 for new primaries.

When the 2010/11 settlement for councils was announced by SNP ministers, Glasgow had the lowest increase at 1.47% against a Scottish average of 2.77% – leaving the city shortchanged by £20million compared to that average – despite many councils faring much better with sparse explanation.

The SNP now say Glasgow’s extra primary school funding was based on “need”. Labour councillors know what that really means, focusing resources in our communities where it’s needed most. We’ll always argue for that. Not just in Glasgow, but in every council across Scotland.