Councillors’ dismay over centralisation
A SENIOR Lochaber councillor has put his name to a motion ahead of today’s (Thursday) meeting of Highland Council, urging the local authority to make it clear to Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon that its members feel betrayed over the on-going centralisation of services away from this region.
The plea for the local authority to involve Ms Sturgeon has been sparked by the row over the proposed closure of the police control room at Inverness.
The motion, submitted jointly by Andrew Baxter, councillor for Ardnamurchan and Fort William, together with Council Leader Councillor Margaret Davidson, demands an explanation over when and by whom the decision was made to recommend to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) that police jobs be moved from Inverness to the Central Belt. Today’s motion follows the recent presentation by Police Scotland of its plans to members at the council’s Lochaber Area Committee. That presentation saw Mr Baxter, chairman of Lochaber Area Committee, publicly express dismay over what he said seemed like a ‘fait accompli’ regarding the closure proposal.
After the council presentation at the end of August, Assistant Chief Constable John Hawkins told the Lochaber Times his desire was to bring on-going improvements to call-handling to all communities across Scotland. He also referred to proposals for the creation of the national database enquiry unit which would see the creation of a facility in Inverness working alongside staff in Glasgow. A paper outlining the plans are due to be presented to the SPA board on Thursday September 28 but, speaking ahead of today’s council meeting in Inverness, Mr Baxter said there were growing fears over how the planned changes would impact on future policing in Lochaber.
Mr Baxter added: ‘There are real concerns over what centralising the police means when it comes to local officers and local knowledge of the area.
‘You just need to look at what is happening with the movement of these huge dump trucks from Glensanda. It’s ridiculous that requests for information have to go through a police department in Glenrothes.’