Involving You in Shaping The Future of Our Estate

Overview

Police Scotland’s estate needs to be fit for 21st century policing, putting service enhancement, visibility, and engagement at the heart of the communities we serve. These are core components of the legitimacy and consent on which policing in Scotland relies.

We have already introduced technology that enables our officers to remain in local areas, reducing the need for them to return to police stations to deal with paperwork.

Why we need to look at our estate

We are determined to continue to improve our visibility and accessibility, as well as to bring partners together to deliver services in the most efficient and effective way.

At the same time, the buildings in which our officers and staff work need to be safe, functional spaces, and they need to be sustainable and adaptable enough to meet changing public expectations and the changing nature of policing.

The communities we serve are therefore at the heart of our Estate Strategy.

Police Scotland inherited a very large and ageing estate, much of which was not fit for purpose, with high maintenance costs, environmental inefficiencies, and in locations that no longer meet the requirements of local communities.

Over the last few years operational bases have gradually been created at key buildings within communities and co-located with our partners, which has meant that we now have a number of properties that are underutilised. We also have instances where we have retained multiple operational bases, which are less than five miles apart.

Our future estate 

Our strategy seeks to move towards more police stations co-located with partners where possible, to ensure services are delivered in the most efficient and effective way.

We now have more than 60 co-locations with partners, providing more sustainable, more modern, and safer workspaces for our people.

We have great examples of successful partnerships in the North East, Perthshire, Forth Valley, and Ayrshire among others and this will continue to be an important part of ensuring policing in Scotland is sustainable.

Taking every opportunity to co-locate with partners is not only the best way to deliver savings to the public purse, it also facilitates more integrated and effective public services with better outcomes, particularly for the vulnerable in our society.

Our budget also means we have to make choices

Hard choices are already being taken to deliver effective policing within the revenue budget available to us.

We are prioritising issues which encounter the greatest demand and which carry the greatest risk in keeping people safe, including by maximising officer availability in the communities they serve. Doing so will allow us to protect frontline policing and service delivery.

We now plan to accelerate the proposed disposal of a further 59 police buildings over the next three years.

We understand and are sensitive to community concerns around changes involving police buildings and as we bring forward proposals we will engage and consult with the public. Involving the public, communities and partners in the way we do things is vital if we are to maintain public confidence in policing.

Our Joint Strategy for Policing 2023 sets out the strategic outcomes we seek for the service. 

We are inviting everyone to get involved in the following activities 

Our National Conversation

We have launched a National Conversation about our estate.

It has been four years since the launch of our Estate Strategy and it's a good opportunity to check how our changes over the last few years are being experienced by communities. We also want to involve you and gather your feedback on progress. 

Consultation on each building

A local consultation on each building where there is a proposed change is available.

We want to listen to everyone and take your views into account for each of the buildings we have proposed. We will make sure you have all the information you need to inform your response and the buildings we are consulting on will be updated regularly as more information comes available. 

You can view an overview and update presentation on our National Estates Programme during the Scottish Police Authority Resources Committee Meeting on 13 March 2024.