Evaluation of police and fire reform year 4: key findings

3. Background to police and fire reform in Scotland

Prior to the 2013 reforms in Scotland, policing and fire and rescue services were delivered by sixteen (eight police and eight fire and rescue) separate and relatively autonomous regional organisations. These arrangements had existed since the mid-1970s and both police and fire organisations had strong connections with local government in terms of governance, funding and decisions regarding the appointment of local chief officers. Although both police and fire services had seen some gradual movement towards greater centralisation of some functions (for example, a Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency had been established in the early 2000s), the process to establish a national police and a national fire and rescue service in 2013 occurred relatively quickly as the seriousness of the economic crisis of 2007-8 for public spending in Scotland became apparent (as for example highlighted in the interviews with national key informants in the first year of the evaluation).

The Scottish Government initiated work to explore different options for reform in 2011 and within 18 months legislation to create a national police force and a national fire and rescue service was introduced and passed in the Scottish Parliament in 2012 (Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012)^[1]. The strategic benefits of these national organisations (Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service) were articulated in terms of reducing the duplication of the regionalised arrangements, improving equity of access to specialised expertise and equipment, and enhancing opportunities to strengthen connections with local communities.

When looking at the international context, Scotland is not alone in undertaking major structural reform of its police service. Over the last 10 years, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden have all embarked on significant re-organisation of their police forces, typically involving the merging of police districts to create more centralised structures in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness^[2].

In relation to fire services, there is less evidence of major structural change internationally as has happened in Scotland, however there are many examples of fire services having to re-think their role as demand in relation to firefighting activity declines partly due to fewer domestic fires^[3].

As part of this evaluation, these international perspectives and experiences on police and fire reform were explored further in the international case studies in Year 4.