John O'Groat Journal
10 February 2011
I’m sure, readers, that you will be cheered by the latest police statistics. Under this SNP Government recorded crime has fallen to a 32-year low and fire deaths have continued to fall over the long term.
In order to maintain these successes in the face of unprecedented budget cuts, reform is now necessary. However, even without the financial pressures, we would still be looking at structural reform. The current set-up for police and fire boards dates back to the 1970s, and needs to be reviewed for the 21st century. Maintaining the status quo is not an option.
The current configuration of eight police and fire boards dates back to the 1970s. They align with the old regional councils, which were abolished in 1996 and as such have no relevance to the current setup. Indeed the Northern Joint Police and Fire Boards take in four of these council areas.
Lib Dem politicians seem attached to Northern Constabulary. That’s no protection for a local service or making the police accountable. The key to locally accountable policing needs a whole new approach. Yet LibDems have made it clear what they are against change. Why not ensure that all councillors keep an eye on the local police area commanders and their staff? So far LibDem spokespeople refuse to say what they are for. Typical!
Labour’s claim that “where they lead, the SNP follow” is somewhat undermined by the drip-drip of Labour politicians appearing in the press to condemn Iain Gray’s support for a single police force. Meanwhile every councillor could grill the police, not just the one in eight who are appointed to police boards and travel the Highlands and Islands rather a lot.
The Scottish Government and most stakeholders including the Police Federation and Fire Brigade Union within the fire and rescue service have reached a consensus that eight services are not sustainable over the longer term. The Ministerial Advisory Group recommended change to the SNP Government which believes there are significant arguments for a single service, but the SNP will continue to consider all options that can demonstrate long term sustainability.
Significant arguments have been made for a single police service, as recognised
by many others across the political parties. However, we want to consult the people
of Scotland
Our priority is frontline policing and we continue to meet our one thousand extra officers pledge with 17,371 police officers in Scotland. At 30 September 2010 there were 1,137 more police officers in Scotland
There will have to be new ways for the police to investigate misdemeanours so that the process is nationally acceptable. But it could mean that we get a major part of the police structure run from somewhere in the highland area – not necessarily Inverness.
The consultation launched this week presents a range of options for both the fire and police services. These include eight services but with enhanced collaboration; a regional structure with fewer boards; and a single service.
Hard times for public services must not be allowed to overshadow good news. A huge milestone was reached last week with the granting of full status for the University of the Highlands and Islands. I know it is born into difficult circumstance but it can underpin jobs, ideas, careers, young returners to the North and international student intakes to many of its courses.
Thanks are due to the tenacity of many campaigners from the 1930s onwards. However two men in particular set the wheels in motion in 1986. SNP councillor Sandy Lindsay retired from the Aviemore ward and he encouraged his successor Dr Iain Glen to put the creation of a Highland University
On his election he called for and joined a committee with other councillors including the late Sandy Russell of Kingussie and Cllr Val MacIver of Evanton and others which led to a pact with the Highlands and Islands Development Board. In 1987 the Regional Council and HIDB each pledged £100,000 to kick start the university campaign.
I know it took twenty-five years to arrive at full status but my involvement with the North Highland College and particularly its Environmental Research Institute at Thurso and the Dornoch campus with its Burghfield Hotel School are ground breaking. They deserve a place in the confident future of this collegiate university with campuses scattered from Shetland to Perth.
The most recent fatalities near Castletown were on my mind at the beginning of the TICC committee short enquiry into road safety and young drivers than began this week.
A key witness, Professor Frank McKenna of Reading University, said many campaigns aimed at making young drivers safer were not effective, and could even be counter-productive to their original aim. I asked him about the use of road safety education to influence teenage drivers.
He said: "I think, sadly, the evidence for a great deal of road safety interventions is nil. I think there are all sorts of reasons for that. Road safety is full of well-motivated interventions that are not based on either solid evidence or formal theory.
"When they are assessed often, they have no effects and sometimes they have counter-productive effects."
Prof McKenna said despite enthusiasm for such campaigns among politicians and those who deliver them, they are often not evaluated, and when they are, they are "not effective".
Measures such as increased supervised experience for young drivers and graduated licensing, where the new driver is gradually exposed to more risks, such as night-time driving, had been shown to work. A report will be delivered to Parliament before dissolution in March.
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