§ 3.54 p.m.
§ THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SCOTLAND (LORD HUGHES)My Lords, with permission, I should like to repeat a Statement which my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Scotland has just made in another place. His words were:
"I promised on May 23 that I would make a statement about the structure of the Scottish Police Service. I have been considering for some time whether a number of Scottish police forces should be amalgamated in the interests of efficiency, as was recommended by the Royal Commission on the Police in 1962. I have now concluded that, as a first step, there should be a limited programme of amalgamation which will reduce the total number of Scottish forces to 20, a figure envisaged by the Royal Commission on the Police.
"Specifically, the amalgamations which I now propose are the forces of:
the County of Lanark and the Burghs of Airdrie, Coatbridge, Hamilton, and Mother well and Wishaw with a total establishment at present of 1,036; the Counties of Renfrew and Bute and the Burghs of Greenock and Paisley, with an establishment of 733;
the County of Ayr and the Burghs of Ayr and Kilmarnock with an establishment of 636;
the County of Inverness and the Burgh of Inverness with an establishment of 186;
and the Counties of Caithness, Orkney and Shetland with an establishment of 102.
"I have written to the police authorities concerned asking them to consider voluntary amalgamations on these lines and offering discussion of the matter in detail if they wish it.
"I hope these amalgamations can be brought about by negotiation and agreement. The general principle of amalgamation is now widely accepted, and I hope that the limited programme which I have announced will not give 1089 rise to any question of compulsory powers. But it is clear to me that if there should be a case where I am convinced, after full consideration, that amalgamation is necessary but the police authorities concerned are unable to agree, the procedural requirements for a public inquiry should be as recommended by the Royal Commission on the Police in 1962, in so far as the inquiry should be concerned only with the objections and not with the merits of the scheme itself. I shall, therefore, introduce later to-day a Bill to amend Section 18(2) of the Police (Scotland) Act 1956, which will apply in Scotland the provisions relating to procedure at inquiries which now apply in England and which were recommended for both countries by the Royal Commission on the Police."
My Lords, that concludes the Statement made by my right honourable friend.
§ THE EARL OF DUNDEEMy Lords, I thank the noble Lord for making this Statement, which follows the recommendations of the Royal Commission in 1962. I should like to ask him only one question. I hope he can assure us that the Government are satisfied that our ability to improve the pay of the police in Scotland and to supply them with the best modern equipment will be increased by these amalgamations.
LORD REAMy Lords, for many years successive Governments have neglected to favour us on these Benches with representatives from North of the Tweed. May I formally say that I welcome this Bill.
§ LORD HUGHESMy Lords, the question of the pay of the police is, as is well known, not the only question which contributes to the difficulty of having the establishments of police forces at the levels which are necessary. One difficulty arises from police forces which are not, in modern terms, large enough to carry out their tasks. I am certain that amalgamations along the lines suggested will not only enable the police who are there to do their jobs even more efficiently than they do at the present time, but also provide an additional incentive for other good young men to join the police establishments.
THE DUKE OF ATHOLLMy Lords, may I ask whether this is the end of the 1090 proposed amalgamations in Scotland, or whether more might be considered in the future?
§ LORD HUGHESMy Lords, I think it is inherent in the Statement I have made that this is the beginning.