SCOTTISH
POLICE FEDERATION
5 Woodside Place, Glasgow, G3 7QF
MEDIA
RELEASE
The Scottish Police Federation represents all police officers in the
ranks of chief inspector and below, about 16,000 people, over 98% of
all police officers in Scotland.
To:
Date:
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All
Editors
12
November 2007
Government
Announcement of 500 extra officers
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Responding
to the Government announcement below, Joe Grant, General Secretary said,
“
This is a positive step in the right direction. We look forward
to working with the Cabinet Secretary on the other elements of his approach.
Time will tell if that works to deliver further new capacity beyond
today's promise of 500 new and additional officers. Over
the coming months, an Additional Police Capacity Project is to be established
and we will be represented on that. We will be working with Government
and others to maximise policing capacity.
Asked
about the political row over the 1,000 officer promise, Mr Grant said,
“We
won't get involved in party politics. For us this is about giving the
public the service they deserve. It is about public safety and security.
Our 24/7 response officers are seriously overstretched. The public want
to see more police officers on the streets and so do we.”
From:
THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
News
Release
Monday,
November 12, 2007
MACASKILL
OUTLINES NEW APPROACH TO BUILDING POLICE CAPACITY IN SCOTLAND
The
Scottish Government today set out a range of measures to deliver its
commitment of a more visible police presence on Scotland 's streets
and an additional 1,000 police officers available in our communities.
The
commitment will be met through the recruitment of additional new officers,
improved retention of skilled and experienced officers, and efficiency
gains reinvested to redeploy officers to strengthen operational policing
in Scotland 's communities.
Justice
Secretary Kenny MacAskill today announced that the Scottish Government
will invest an additional £54 million over the spending review
period to build police capacity and to support as a first step the recruitment
of 500 new officers. At least 150 more officers will be recruited in
the current financial year, with the balance to follow across the lifetime
of this Parliament.
This
funding will be in addition to increases in overall police expenditure
which will be announced on Wednesday as part of the Budget.
"We
have made a clear commitment to deliver a more visible policing presence
on Scotland 's streets. An additional 1,000 officers available in our
communities.
"We
shall do that through increased recruitment of new officers; improved
retention of skilled and experienced officers; and redeployment of officers
to front line tasks.
"The
first step of this work will be the recruitment of 500 new officers.
At least 150 more officers will be recruited in the current financial
year, with the balance to follow across the lifetime of this Parliament.
"The
overall levels of police funding that will be announced in Wednesday's
budget will provide sufficient funding to allow police boards to maintain
core numbers at least at current levels. This £54m investment
in additional recruitment and building capacity is on top of that funding
and represents a very significant investment in policing at a time when
we have received the tightest financial settlement since devolution
began.”
For further information contact Lesley Stevenson at 5 Woodside
Place, Glasgow, G3 7QF
Telephone: 0141 332 0901 Mobile: 07967 104173 Fax: 0141 331 2436
Email: lesley.stevenson@spf.org.uk
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