Communities to benefit from police funding
Police Scotland has announced a five-figure cash boost for communities in Lanarkshire.
The £31,679 award is part of a £325,000 fund to be spent in areas across Scotland by commanders.
And the new local partnership and initiative fund is to be spent on community empowerment, inclusion and collaborative working.
It follows a commitment by Chief Constable Iain Livingstone to provide divisional commanders with discretionary funds and falls under the wider local policing programme.
Deputy Chief Constable for local policing, Will Kerr, said: “Local commanders and officers know their communities and partners, whether they are in local authorities, health, social work, the third or private sectors, best.
“Our local policing programme will ensure policing in Scotland is delivered with a focus on communities and reflects the different needs of urban, rural, island and remote community access across Scotland.
“This is an important recognition of divisional commanders’ autonomy to support activities and initiatives which they identify as able to improve the safety and wellbeing of their community.”
And Deputy Chief Constable Kerr added: “In line with our commitment to financial rigour and accountability, divisions are to maintain a record of their use of the fund and report to the local policing programme on a monthly basis.”
A pragmatic approach has been used to share the fund via the provision of a baseline of £15,000 per division; with a proportional split of the remaining monies based on officer distribution, demand and deprivation as reported in the 2016 Scottish index of multi-deprivation (SIMD).
Local police commander for Lanarkshire, Chief Superintendent Alan Waddell, welcomed the cash boost.
He said: “We have a number of local initiatives ongoing throughout Lanarkshire that will benefit from the extra income from the fund.
“We will also be working together with our partner agencies to identify any further opportunities for us to ensure that we are effectively addressing the concerns of those living in our local communities, and continually working to provide the best possible service.”
Glasgow police division which covers Toryglen, Castlemilk and Kings Park received £41,986 for similar projects.
To find out more about the local partnership and initiative fund, visit