The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
999 operators left in limbo
Controversial closure of call centres postponed for fourth time Closure: ‘Services will get better’
Vital 999 operators have been left in limbo yet again after Police Scotland decided to delay controversial call centre closures in Aberdeen and Inverness for the fourth time.
Pressure is mounting on the force to rethink the move, which would mean emergency calls from the north and north-east being answered in the central belt.
Local politicians branded the announcement “extremely damaging” and claimed it would “undermine” public confidence in the force.
The closures inAberdeen will now take place in March 2017, with closures in Inverness to follow in June. The force said it was “confident” the new timescale was achievable – but would not guarantee it.
Staff were previously told that the facilities would shut by October.
The Press and Journal recently revealed an“alarming” decrease in the number of people working in the Aberdeen control room and Bucks burn service centre.
Call centre closures have A fire chief has “guaranteed” that services will improve with the controversial closure of the Aberdeen and Inverness control rooms.
The Granite City control room is scheduled to shut in November, with workers from Dundee, Inverness and Aberdeen joining forces in a new facility on Tayside by March 2017.
The plans been heavily criticised amid fears that loss of local knowledge will put lives at risk.
Fire service area manager Tony Hughes was quizzed by members of Aberdeen City Council’s infrastructure services committee yesterday.
He confirmed there were currently 24 staff in Aberdeen and that just five had chosen to relocate to Dundee.
But Labour member Barney Crockett come under increased scrutiny after the M9 tragedy in 2015, when John Yuill and partner Lamara quizzed him about the justification for Dundee being considered to be in the “north of the country”.
He added: “I think the general perception in Aberdeen is that it is the Scottish Government’s forgotten city.
“I think we will all reel when hearing that Dundee is in the north of Scotland.”
Mr Hughes said scouting exercises had been carried out to train staff in local dialects and that the new control room would allow the service to better co-ordinate responses across Scotland. Bell were left in their wrecked vehicle for three days – despite the accident being called-in to police by a member of the public.
North-east Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald said last night: “When police control room and service centre closures were first announced two years ago, staff were given a timetable for the closures to be carried out.
“This announcement makes the fourth separate timetable published in that time.
“Surely now it is time for ministers to stop and think again before this damage becomes irreversible.”
Alexander Burnett, Scottish Conservative MSP for Aberdeenshire West, added: “This level of uncertainty has been extremely damaging for morale.
“The axe has been hanging over the workers for two years now.
“We have already seen what can happen when control rooms are not adequately staffed and we cannot afford for there to be a repeat of the M9 tragedy.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: “Police Scotland’ s approach to the remaining phases of restructuring will be subject to extensive scrutiny and independent review.
“Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland continues to closely monitor the progress being made by Police Scotland to implement the recommendations contained in the 2015 review of police call handling.”
North- east divisional commanderChief Superintendent Campbell Thomson said: “Remodelling our existing structures is absolutely necessary to ensure we are able to command and control incidents, without the restrictions that legacy arrangements bring.
“Police Scotland is committed to delivering this change in a safe and assured manner.”