The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
APPOINTMENT
A former chief inspector has been appointed to lead Highland Council’s relationship with the emergency services.
Matthew Reiss, now a councillor in Caithness, has been appointed as the authority’s strategic lead for police and fire amid ongoing concerns about the future of the services in the Highlands.
The council has most recently raised concern about control room closures, with the fire service having already relocated to Dundee while the police are expected to move later in the year.
Mr Reiss, who served as a chief inspector in the far north, said: “The council has long had an excellent working relationship with local police officers in the Highlands.
“I would like to extend a warm welcome to Chief Superintendent George MacDonald in his new role as divisional commander and we are already confident that he understands the differing styles of rural policing and the importance of community partnerships, particularly as his roots are in north Highland.”
The council yesterday agreed a motion calling on the Scottish Government and the Scottish Police Authority to re-examine decision-making.
Council leader Margaret Davidson met with Ch Supt MacDonald and assistant chief constables John Hawkins and Andy Cowie in Inverness last week to address the council’s concerns.
She said: “The meeting last week was long overdue, and we are still not clear about the number of jobs left for Highland if the control room is taken from us.
“We will need to see that number and ensure it matches the promises both from Police Scotland and local politicians.
“I am assured that a great deal of work has been done to improve safety measures within control room technology.
“However, our preferred outcome remains to retain the control room in the Highlands and the jobs, local knowledge and experience that go with it.”
Ch Supt MacDonald, who oversaw the force’s recent Aberdeen control room move to Dundee, last week described the discussion as “constructive and transparent”.
He cited the previous smooth transition of merging 13 separate police control rooms in the region to a single facility in Inverness.