By Gemma Fraser
Head of content
Police Scotland is planning a £510 million overhaul of its estate after admitting the current stations and buildings are old, in poor condition and not fit for modern policing.
Plans have been drawn up to reduce the overall number of buildings owned by the force by selling those which are underused or inefficient, and modernising ones which bosses want to keep.
The force wants to create more policing ‘hubs’, sharing spaces with other public sector agencies, and use “community policing points”.
However, the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) – which represents 98 per cent of officers – warned this will drive them away from their local communities.
Around 62 per cent of Police Scotland’s estate is more than 50 years old, with running costs increasing year-on-year, averaging £68 million annually between 2021/22 and 2026/27.
There is currently a maintenance backlog of around £250 million and the ‘comfort spend’ – money used just to keep buildings wind and watertight – is expected to exceed £15 million in 2026/27 and grow to more than £20 million the following year.
The new estates strategy replaces the one Police Scotland developed in 2019, which also centred around a ‘hub and spoke’ model. The revised strategy is said to be “driven by operational requirement”.
An official police report, presented to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), said: “An updated hub and spoke approach, particularly in urban areas, is required to support wider transformation and the operating model for local policing.
“Whilst it is a property focused change, it is driven by operational requirement.
“New deployment hubs will support smaller community policing points to maintain and enhance police presence in the communities.”
Custody, production storage, and operational support would be separated under the new plans into divisional hubs.
In urban areas, a central custody suite would be established, with the possibility of additional separate facilities or a custody suite housed in one of the main deployment hubs.
However, there are already concerns about the lack of available custody suites, particularly in more rural areas of Scotland where officers have to travel to the nearest town or city with detention facilities – which can often take several hours.
1919 revealed earlier this year that Scotland’s police stations have lost almost 40 per cent of their cells since the creation of the single force.
David Kennedy, Scottish Police Federation
“Our frontline staff will begin each shift at the deployment hub but will ultimately spend most of their time in the community they serve, utilising local policing points as and when required,” the report states.
“The deployment hub approach, which is a model used by other police forces in the UK, provides a dedicated base location for local policing officers to start and finish their shifts, with all the equipment, office support and required facilities such as lockers, welfare and digital facilities and police vehicle parking.
“Hubs may also contain other facilities such as divisional management, training or specialist units; however, the primary use is frontline local policing officers.”
David Kennedy, SPF general secretary, said: “All this is going to do is further disperse police officers away from their local communities.
“It will just mean that communities will see even less of their police officers.
“How far are these hubs going to be from where officers are working? Have the hubs got a custody suite?
“I’m not against them saying they have to close buildings down because they’re not financially sustainable, but what they do need to do is say where are we going to look to get another building we can use?
“Up and down the country we’re awash with empty premises. Police officers need to have the ability to go somewhere.”
Since 2019, when the previous strategy was published, Police Scotland has reduced its operational buildings from 349 to 332, with the size of the estate reducing by 55,000 square metres (13 per cent of the total).
The force’s chief officer for estates, Donna Vallance, confirmed to the SPA board that Police Scotland is able to keep capital receipts from selling buildings, such as the former Portobello police station in Edinburgh (pictured), which was sold to community group Action Porty for £499,500.
But concerns have already been raised about the impact on community policing after it emerged that 180 buildings had been lost since the creation of Police Scotland.
The force said the new estate transformation will fully support hybrid working, with main hubs having capacity for virtual courts and muster rooms that can connect to secondary hubs, and hot desks with full connectivity.
“I want our buildings to represent a professional policing service for the public, enable effective deployment of our capabilities where they are needed, and provide quality accommodation for our people and those in our custody and care,” said Chief Constable Jo Farrell.
“The police estate in Scotland developed over a period of decades, as legacy services made decisions which met their needs within their boundaries at the time.
“How people interact with public services has changed, as has how policing deploys and communicates with each other, with partners, and with the public.
“The rise of digital evidence is moving production storage needs from square footage to gigabytes.
“By the establishment of Police Scotland, the overall footprint was too big, with many buildings empty and even more in poor condition.
“Maintaining an oversized, deteriorating, and expensive estate in locations that don’t make operational sense does not deliver on our duty of best value for the public.”
She added: “I recognise the continued journey to a smaller police estate, closing police buildings, is emotive for communities. We must continually earn the confidence of the public that when we sell, co-locate with partners, refurbish, or construct new buildings, each decision has a keen eye on improving service and financial and environmental sustainability.
“Visible, accessible policing presence in locations that best serve communities remains vital.”
Glasgow and Tayside will be prioritised first as they make up around 50 per cent of the national estate and face the highest risk. The total investment required in Tayside is around £143 million, while Glasgow would need in the region of £236 million.
Police Scotland has also identified five specific projects, including the potential closure of Fettes in Edinburgh and the replacement of Greenock police station.
The replacement of Oban police station also features in the short-term plans, along with the refurbishment of existing properties that are to be retained.
Police Scotland has co-located with partners in 30 properties since 2019, including the fire service, local authorities, and NHS bodies.