Forces shorten contracts for police chiefs

CHIEF police officers are being put on three-year contracts because Scotland's eight forces will be merged into one or three as early as April 2013.

• Kenny MacAskill: instructed forces to make three-year appointments Picture: TSPL

Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill has written to forces instructing them not to give new chief officers contracts of more than three years - two years shorter than previously.

The move will be challenged by Northern Constabulary, which is looking to appoint a new chief constable next month and a new deputy early next year and wants to be able to offer five-year deals.

Both the Scottish Government and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) deny the shorter-term contracts reflect a timetable for restructuring.

But sources say civil servants have pencilled in 1 April 2013 as the earliest possible date for the merger, which was announced by First Minister Alex Salmond at the SNP party conference last week.

One senior police source said: "The Scottish Government doesn't want to merge forces and then be left with large numbers of officers on lengthy contracts."

Scotland's eight forces have at least three chief officers each: a chief constable, deputy and assistant. Lothian and Borders have four and Strathclyde have five. A move to fewer forces would mean a sharp reduction in posts.

However, there are fears the restructuring process is now moving too fast. Norman MacLeod, convener of Northern Joint Police Board, said: "That date suggests we are now rushing along at an alarming rate. It was only the beginning of this month that the report from Acpos went to the Scottish Policing Board and the recommendations were accepted, now it seems to have gathered pace."

Senior officers in the north of Scotland, including outgoing Northern Constabulary Chief Constable Ian Latimer, have been the most reticent about merging, fearing a loss of control to the Central Belt.

This is leading to conflict with the Scottish Government over the length of contracts the force will be allowed to give its new chief constable and deputy chief constable. Although policing boards make the appointments, they must be signed off by MacAskill.

MacAskill's letter to police boards preceded Salmond's "bobbies before boundaries" speech at the SNP conference last week, which confirmed the Scottish Government's support for a merger.

Iain Whyte, convener of the Lothian and Borders Police Board, said: "The first thing that will happen is people will be appointed to run the new force or forces, much in the same way as they did with councils when they changed them."

An Acpos spokesman said: "Work on this is continuing. We are looking at all possible ways of improving efficiency and productivity and that is very much married with the work on mergers."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "It is important to stress that no timetable has been placed on this exercise. However, given that reform is on the agenda, the Scottish Government asked police authorities and boards to move to shorter-term contracts for senior officers in order to balance the need for secure leadership against a greater degree of flexibility in future years."