During General Questions today in the Scottish Parliament, Orkney MSP Liam McArthur pressed the Cabinet Secretary for Justice to guarantee that no jobs would be lost in Orkney as a result of the SNP Government’s creation of a Single national police force.

Commenting, Mr McArthur said:

“At a recent meeting in Inverness hosted by Northern Constabulary, the man charged with implementing the SNP’s plans for a single national police force heard concerns expressed about the threat of police staff job losses and centralisation of support services.

“These are concerns I know that are shared in Orkney, where the effect of recent cuts in civilian staffing roles are already being keenly felt.  Any further reduction in either police or civilian staffing levels would create serious problems in the islands, a point I raised with the Justice Secretary today in Parliament.

“Despite acknowledging the vital role played by what he called the wider policing ‘family’, the Cabinet Secretary was unable to offer any substantive guarantees on future staffing levels.  While Mr MacAskill was happy to commit to maintaining overall police numbers, questions still remain about the way in which they will be deployed and what further cuts might be in the pipeline for support staff.

“I plan to take up the invitation from the Chief Constable for Northern Constabulary to meet him in the near future and these are issues I will continue to pursue with the government in the months ahead.”