Police chief does not feel merger will save money

A SINGLE police force in Scotland could mean 4,000 fewer officers, a chief constable has warned.

Colin McKerracher, chief constable of Grampian Police, said there is not a "huge saving" in creating one force out of the eight currently in place.

He made the comments during a debate in Aberdeen yesterday after proposals announced last month to reform police and fire services as single national forces.

Mr McKerracher said: "There's an absolute lie here in terms of how much you save in restructuring police and fire. It's a minute part of the Scottish budget. There's not a huge saving in the downsizing of policing in Scotland."

Asked what he believed was motivating a change to one force for the country, he said: "I think it's a control issue. The consultation paper talks about a 197 million saving if you go to a single force. It doesn't tell the people of Scotland that will be 4,000 fewer police officers in Scotland and 400 less in the north-east of Scotland.

"That's where the public will really see the bite if we go to that level of resourcing in Scotland."

He also said the structure in the north-east allowed local policing teams to be "very well-tapped into" local communities and accountable to them.

Last month, First Minister Alex Salmond said replacing Scotland's police forces with a single body offers a "substantial opportunity" for savings.

The justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, has already announced three options for consultation - from minor restructuring to a single national force.

Ministers believe a single police force for Scotland could save almost 200 million, despite the fact that police chiefs have criticised the figure.

He said keeping the existing eight forces did not offer any significant savings. But the consultation means no decision has to be taken until after the Holyrood election in May.