Report says single police force would save £153m

The case for a single police force in Scotland has been "strengthened" by a report into potential reform, according to the Justice Secretary.

Kenny MacAskill yesterday said that savings of 153 million could be achieved, but insisted no decision would be made before the Holyrood election on 5 May. His comments followed a meeting of the Scottish Policing Board in Edinburgh where the report, compiled by senior police officers and "financial specialists" from all forces, was discussed.

The idea of scrapping the current eight-force model in favour of one Scottish service is backed by Strathclyde Police Chief Constable Stephen House but has been opposed by others, including the top officer in Grampian and the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

The report described a single force as the least complex and most efficient of the three options put out for consultation by the SNP administration.

Other options include making savings based on the existing system or moving to a slimmer regional model.

Such a regional system would be "complex", the report found, while keeping eight forces was described as "unsustainable".

To make savings of about 153m each year would cost 92m over the lifetime of the reform programme, the report added.

Comparing the "effectiveness" of the three options, the report sided with the single force proposal.

It stated: "The single structure provides a simple solution for the proposed model of delivery of specialist functions."

Mr MacAskill said: "This piece of work represents a significant step forward in the evidence base for reform of our police service and does strengthen the case for a single force.

"It identifies savings of up to 153m a year and some of the costs identified would be incurred anyway, regardless of the structure."