Minister accused of rigging debate over police forces in 'power grab'

KENNY MacAskill has been accused of "manipulating" the debate over police force mergers by council leaders who have warned the Scottish Government it faces a battle for control of local crimefighting.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), an umbrella group for councils, has written a scathing letter to the justice secretary, raising "deep dissatisfaction" about the way the consultation was handled.

The results will be revealed at the Scottish Policing Board on Tuesday, but the Scottish Government is not expected to announce how many forces it will move to.

However, sources say Mr MacAskill's claims at the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (Acpos) conference earlier this month, that the case for a single force has "strengthened", is not reflected in the consultation responses.

And in a letter to the justice secretary, Barbara Grant, of Cosla, accuses the Scottish Government of an "ongoing grab for control of local government functions".

Cosla's community safety spokeswoman wrote: "I am left with the overriding impression that this consultation and all that surrounds it is just a sham."

She added: "What we actually seem to have is us being strung along until you choose to make the next step in an ongoing grab for control of local government functions."

The letter indicated the battle lines are now being drawn as to how much control of local policing councils retain from central government, if Scotland's eight forces are merged into one.

Ms Grant wrote: "Be aware if (there] is ultimately to be a single service, then Cosla will be seeking to make sure that it remains genuinely a local government function, free from any ministerial control, formal or otherwise, and we will not hesitate to point out when and where we see that not to be the case and there to be any hint of abuse of power."

The Scottish Government is expected to wait for the results of the Christie Commission report on local authorities before making an announcement on police force mergers.

If there is to be a single force, the divisions within it are expected to be based around council boundaries, which may change as a result of Christie.

However, there is growing concern about the Scottish Government's increasing influence.

Iain Whyte, convener of the Lothian and Borders Police Board, said: "There is clearly a view that the risk with Christie, and the risk with police reform, is the Scottish Government takes more power to itself and leaves local government with less to do.

"Whether it's social care, policing or education, there seems to be an increasing willingness to interfere from central government."

Martin Greig, convener of Grampian Joint Police Board, added: "It was strange that the consultation took place during a parliamentary election period.

"I think that was very unhelpful, as was the lack of information and the consultation was heavily biased."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government has involved stakeholders at every stage of the reform process and we want to ensure this continues."