Questions remain over single police for plans, says McArthur

Commenting on a statement from the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) that the single national police force will begin operating from April 1, 2013, Orkney MSP Liam McArthur said: “It is truly astonishing that, before the Scottish Parliament has even begun its scrutiny of the proposals for a single national police force, ACPOS and the Scottish Government are already talking about the date when the new force will begin operations.  Plans also seem well-advanced for temporary headquarters to house the new national force.

“This looks like yet another example of the SNP’s disregard for the Parliamentary process. With these proposals representing the biggest shake-up of Scotland’s policing for a generation, there are still many question marks remaining – not least on how local policing will be protected and how many jobs will be affected.

“The Justice Secretary has been told, time and again, that his centralising agenda risks doing real damage to policing in remote and island areas, something he heard first hand when he visited Orkney last summer. These flawed reforms represent little more than a ministerial power grab and ministers are not even bothering to wait to hear what Parliament has to say.”