So it is eight into one. Scotland’s eight regional police forces (and fire services) are to be rationalised into Scotland-wide, centrally controlled operations.
Lothian and Borders Police is to go, likewise the Northern Constabulary and all the other well-kent names of Scottish policing.
Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, outlined his plans today and insisted the move was about “protecting frontline services”.
This is the same argument used for rationalising local government, health boards and other public sector organisations – and, in a sense, it is true.
However, the more realistic and true explanation is that it is all about saving money.
Merging regional forces is like bringing together the backroom operations at a council level. It is about cutting out managerial, personnel, human resources and IT jobs and using a decreasing pot of money to keep funding those at the sharp end.
But, as in any efficiency scheme, some things will get compromised. Scotland’s police forces have a certain amount of regional discretion in how they deal with issues and problems.
For instance, the Northern Constabulary will have a very different approach to firearms licensing than Lothian and Borders Police because of the differing nature of the firearms licences being sought in rural and urban areas.
Under the new one-force plan, all of Scotland’s firearms licences could be dealt with from Glasgow’s Pitt Street headquarters. Will the staff there (almost certainly civilian) understand (or be allowed to understand) the different needs in more remote parts of the country?
This is what Mr MacAskill said today: “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. But 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.
“The case is clear – single services for Scotland give us the best possible chance of protecting our communities from cuts by freeing up resources for frontline policing and fire and rescue services, retaining local services for local communities. They will deliver estimated savings of £130 million every year.”
And he added: “Both [police and fire] services will be held to account by new, independent bodies. In police, the Lord Advocate and Procurators Fiscal will continue to have responsibility for the direction of criminal investigations.
“Reform will protect local services and strengthen connections with communities. 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 more opportunities to scrutinise the services and hold them to account.”
The justice secretary claimed the changes would result in:
● The delivery of estimated savings of £130 million a year and £1.7 billion over 15 years.
● Reduction in duplication and overheads across eight police and eight fire and rescue services, freeing up resources for frontline policing and fire and rescue services.
● The establishment of a strong, 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.
● A clear separation between ministers and the operational responsibilities of services. As at present, ministers will not be able to give instructions on such matters.
● Giving 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.
● Improving Scotland's capacity to tackle national threats such as terrorism and serious organised crime, and to respond to incidents such as severe winter weather.
A consultation paper and outline business cases were 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.
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