Further concerns have been raised around the restructuring of police services in Fife by the newly created Police Scotland, after it was announced the number of chief inspectors in the region was being more than halved.
North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell has written to the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, Sir Stephen House.
He said: “My attention has been drawn to reports that the number of chief inspectors in Fife is to be cut from seven to three. Can you advise me what factors have influenced this decision and in particular whether it has been driven by budgetary consideration?
“What will be the impact of this decision on the quality and range of police services in North East Fife and in particular will local links between communities and the police be strengthened or weakened?
“Are there any other proposed changes in the near future which will have an impact on the number of police officers in Fife and in particular my constituency?
“You will appreciate that such changes may well have an effect on public confidence. How will you deal with such a development?”
Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Claire Baker has also expressed concern. “In recent years we have seen great work taking place across Fife to build public confidence in local policing and it is vital that this confidence is not now undermined,” she said.
“Rather than building on positive relations, what we are seeing is an erosion of local justice throughout the kingdom. First, it was the closures of local courts, now it’s the loss of chief inspectors to the area and next it could be changes to the opening times of local stations.
“These cuts put at risk the progress that has been made with community relations. With more than half the number of chief inspectors being cut from Fife, this will mean a loss of invaluable local knowledge and a potential for remaining officers to be overstretched as their workload inevitably increases.
“The advent of a single police force in Scotland should offer us the opportunity to pool our resources while retaining strong local links, not just be an excuse to administer Scottish Government cuts.
“As with the local courts, it is unfair that these cuts are being forced on to the people of Fife against their wishes. I will be writing to the Justice Secretary and the Chief Constable Stephen House to raise my concerns.”
The Courier reported last weekthat Fife’s most senior police officer has described Police Scotland’s redistribution of chief inspectors as “essential change, not essential loss”.
In a presentation to Fife Council’s Police Transition Committee in Glenrothes, Chief Superintendent Garry McEwan confirmed the number of chief inspectors in Fife had been reduced from seven to four, with a possible drop to three to follow.
However, he backed the view of Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House that the redistribution of ranks will ultimately improve frontline policing with no reduction in officer numbers.
He said that, until recently, each chief inspector in Fife had been responsible for an average of 37 officers, compared with more than 200 per chief inspector in other parts of Scotland.
He said every chief inspector he had spoken to in Fife in the run up to the change had been of the opinion their patches were “too small”.
There was a feeling that “best value” was not being achieved under the previous set up.