Police recruitment drops as budget pressure rises
Just 18 new recruits are set to start at the Scottish Police College (SPC) next month as forces feel the pressure of budget cuts.
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill visiting Tulliallan police college.
- By Aileen Robertson
- Published in the Courier : 26.08.10
- Published online : 26.08.10 @ 06.13am
There are currently 200 probationers going through training at the Tulliallan college, but with forces across Scotland freezing recruitment to balance the books, numbers are set to plummet.
A mere 15 more trainee officers are expected to turn up in November.
Tayside Police froze recruitment after the July intake of probationers. Scotland's largest force, Strathclyde Police, is not taking on any new recruits this autumn.
Fife Constabulary did not reveal what its plans were but said it was reviewing "all aspects of its business" to accommodate anticipated budget cuts of up to 25% over the next four years.
The SPC's director, Assistant Chief Constable John Geates, said training was delivered by officers on secondment from forces across Scotland, which allows a degree of flexibility.
He said probationer training was just one aspect of the college's work and, in the absence of new recruits, officers could be redeployed to deliver professional development in areas such as crime management and leadership.
Mr Geates said, "In the last few years the college demonstrated its ability to respond to the needs of Scottish policing.
"We were able to scale up our operation in 2008/9 by 240% in probationer training as recruitment reached record levels.
"The impact of that huge burst of recruitment in the service, allied with record numbers of experienced officers retiring, means that Scottish policing still has significant but different training needs."
He added, "It's our job to ensure that we match resources to the needs of our police customers and to ensure that we are delivering the most efficient result for the taxpayer.
"Clearly, one of the areas that gives us some flexibility here is that a portion of our workforce come here on secondment.
"That allows us to shift resources to other priority training areas and also, in partnership with the forces themselves, to return officers to force duties if that is in the best overall interests of policing."
A Fife spokesman said, "Fife Constabulary, as part of a national approach, will work with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Scottish Police Services Authority to ensure that services provided by the SPC are sustained in the years ahead and reflect continuing, albeit reduced, training needs of policing in Scotland."
The spokesman said there was no doubt public funding cuts would have an impact on policing, but said the force was committed to protecting public safety.
He said, "A significant amount of work has been carried out over the past two years, including force restructuring, strengthened community engagement, and enhanced partnership working and this has not only enabled the force to take policing closer to the community, but has been essential to maintaining performance and providing a solid base to respond to the challenges ahead.
"There can be no doubt though, that the scale of the cuts being faced will mean a reduction in the level, and potentially breadth, of service provided by the force.
"However, there is an absolute determination to minimising the impact on front line services and staff."
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