Forth Valley police chief warns cuts in force will impact on Falkirk

Chief Superintendent Barry Blair, Divisional Commander Forth Valley, told members of Falkirk Council’s scrutiny committee today (Thursday) that the financial challenges facing Police Scotland would mean changes to policing locally.

He and his senior team are currently looking at ways locally to help mitigate the £19 million budget shortfall that the force is now facing in this year’s budget.

Police Scotland has seen a reduction in officers from 17,234 down to circa 16,600 and CS Blair said that Forth Valley Division and Falkirk area command “has taken a proportionate share of that reduction”.

He told councillors that they do not release the numbers involved in individual areas for operational reasons. However, nationally the police are looking at measures including a freeze on recruitment and organisational restructuring.

They are also currently piloting a scheme in the north east of Scotland, which means crimes with “no associated threat, risk, harm or vulnerability” and no lines of inquiry will not be investigated.

Chief Superintendent Blair said: “Across Forth Valley and in this local authority I and my team are reviewing our operating model and how we might best mitigate and address some of the demand that’s coming in, given the pressure on resource.”

He told councillors: “If we are to move forward with a flat cash settlement and with a two per cent pay award we are looking at a further reduction in head count of about 600 officers and 200 support staff. If that were to continue over the next three to four years there’s a potential you’d be looking at circa 2000 headcount reduction.”

The chief superintendent said that the financial background was important to keep in mind. However, he praised local officers for their work over the past year, as he and Chief Inspector Linsey Kidd presented the area’s annual report, covering April 2022- March 2023.

Chief Inspector Kidd highlighted the work officers have done to tackle issues such as under-age drinking and anti-social behaviour across the district and particularly in Falkirk town centre.

March this year saw a spate of assaults and anti-social behaviour in the town centre. The Falkirk Community Policing Team, worked closely with Falkirk Council CCTV and the British Transport Police as well as local school police officers to tackle the problem.

Officers also helped establish twilight football sessions that have been very effective in reducing anti-social behaviour, she told councillors.

“Its something we are looking to adopt in other parts of Falkirk which also have anti-social behaviour issues,” she said.

The chief inspector also highlighted a “significant amount of work” officers in Falkirk had done to successfully seize off-road bikes. She was grateful for the “strong and positive response” from the community responding to social media appeals.

“While off-road bikes continues to be a problem, we are continuing with that enforcement activity,” she said.

Councillor Lorna Binnie said that some local groups were concerned that police officers are not able to attend meetings to speak to the community about concerns.

Chief Superintendent Blair said that this was an example of how reductions in police numbers would mean that the police would be forced to prioritise and may not be available for such events.