Latest news: Police reforms 'to affect staff'

Experts believe thousands of police jobs could be lost in Scotland when the country moves to a single national police force. 24/05/2012

There are currently eight separate police forces and fire and rescue services in the country; however, the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill is expected to merge them into one by April 2013.

According to Labour justice spokesman Lewis Macdonald, the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) states at least 2,000 jobs will have to be lost before the next Scottish Parliament election.

After that, many remaining officers will be offered reduced terms and conditions – brought in to try and save £1.7billion by 2027. However, many are expected to reject the proposals. This could be further compounded if the Scottish government fails to secure a VAT exemption for the new force.

If this all happens, the number of police jobs that will be lost in the country could be as high as 3,200, ACPOS believes.

The news comes after the Home Office was forced to deny claims made by Welsh chairman of the Police Federation Jeff Mapps that Wales is set to lose 1,600 officers in job cuts.

In a statement for the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme, the Home Office said, ‘The Police Federation is scaremongering by deliberately playing fast and loose with the figures - the independent inspectorate has said fewer than 800 officers will be lost in Wales by 2015. As a service spending £14billion a year the police must play their part in reducing the record budget deficit.'