Police Scotland has outlined urgent action to maintain effective policing within the funding available.
The force says it needs to make more than £50m of savings to ensure a “balanced budget” and it is required to reduce the number of police officers it has from 17,234 to around 16,600.
Deputy Chief Constable Designate Fiona Taylor said: “Hard choices are being taken now to maintain effective policing within the funding available to us. Action is being taken to achieve savings and deliver a balanced budget for 2023-24.
“Areas which encounter the greatest demand and which carry the greatest risk are being prioritised to ensure we continue to effectively reduce harm and protect the vulnerable.”
She added: “As part of this urgent action we have paused police staff recruitment other than for reform or externally funded posts; for roles based in our Contact, Command and Control Division or Resource Deployment Unit; for Police Custody and Security Officers; and for Public Enquiry and Support Assistants.
“Recruitment of Probationary Constables will continue and our commitment to no compulsory redundancies for police staff remains.”
In addition, DCCD Taylor said funding challenges underlined the need to accelerate changes that made savings or supported operational policing, including the successful transformation of the police estate.
DCC Taylor said: “This work will shape our Service and define core policing. It seeks to reduce demand and increase capacity, and accelerate those changes which save money and provide benefits to operational policing. This includes the ongoing transformation of our estate. We will also review support services and our command structures.
“Consequently, some of the things that we do may need to be done differently or take us longer. The level of service we provide in some areas will reduce.”
Are you worried about the impact these changes will have? Email lwells@55north.com
