Community-based policing

Community-based policing should be at the heart of any future changes to Scotland's police forces. That was a message I took from my meeting this week with Ayrshire's police commander Bill Fitzpatrick this week ahead of a key Strathclyde Police Authority meeting in the county.

Chief Superintendent Bill Fitzpatrick met me in my role as Police Authority Convener at Kilmarnock Police Office, the Ayrshire divisional headquarters. We discussed the importance of community policing across Ayrshire in a time of budget pressures and potential changes to the number of police forces across Scotland.

Strathclyde Police Authority oversees the £450 million police budget and ensures the force is accountable for policing provided across the west of Scotland. We have an important meeting in Ayr this week that will consider how best to address the looming budget cuts we expect for Strathclyde Police.

It was important to meet up with Chief Superintendent Fitzpatrick to discuss some of the important work police have been doing across Ayrshire before we make some of those decisions.

Community policing has been a key focus for police in this part of Strathclyde which is a mix of towns and rural areas with challenging issues facing the police. This is important as we also consider the future structure of policing across Scotland and potentially reducing the number of forces from eight to three or even one single Scottish force.

This isn't new as people here moved from having an Ayrshire Constabulary in 1975 to merger as part of a larger Strathclyde force. For any change we need to make sure that local autonomy is there for the commander and his officers to respond to calls and incidents where they are needed most, but we also need to ensure that policing remains accountable locally to communities and councils in Ayrshire who fund the service.

We also know there have been real problems in finding room for custody in Ayrshire, which has meant police time wasted taking people who are arrested to cells sometimes more than thirty minutes' drive away often outwith Ayrshire.

The Police Authority has already allocated resources to open new cells in Saltcoats. Having been in Kilmarnock this week, I know that police office also has a pressing need for more custody space which we need to address urgently.

A meeting of the full Authority will take place on Thursday 26 August from 10.30am at South Ayrshire Council headquarters in Ayr. The Authority is formed by 34 locally elected councillors representing the 12 councils that form Strathclyde including North, East and South Ayrshire.

How we are looking at ways to improve

Last September, Strathclyde Police Authority appointed Keith Mannings as the organisation's new chief executive. It has been a particularly busy and challenging period since his arrival.

The considerable financial deficit facing the policing budget has compelled the authority, as all other public sector organisations are doing, to look critically at how effective and efficient we are at conducting our business.

One of the chief executive's key challenges has involved a formal review of the police authority's governance and scrutiny arrangements of Strathclyde Police force.

Police authorities throughout Scotland have a central role to play in ensuring the delivery of a policing service that reduces crime and is responsive to the issues that matter to communities and residents throughout Strathclyde.

At a formal meeting of Strathclyde Police Authority members in June, Mr Mannings presented an extensive and detailed paper which critically assessed the authority's governance arrangements and looked at ways the authority can improve how it fulfils its legal obligations.

Authority members are considering the contents of the chief executive's report and will meet again in August to consider the recommendations contained in the review.

It is clear, in the current financial climate, that police authorities have a significantly enhanced role to play in ensuring their forces perform at optimum levels.

Police authorities are subject to rigorous joint inspection from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland (HMICS) and the Accounts Commission under Best Value and Community Planning inspection regimes. Strathclyde Police Authority is scheduled to be inspected by HMICS and Audit Scotland on behalf of the Accounts Commission in the autumn.


This was also published as the Police Authority's regular monthly "Convener's Column" in the internal "Upbeat" magazine of Strathclyde Police force.

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.