Police Scotland have been taken to task by Stirling Council after they appeared to appoint a new top cop for Forth Valley without properly consulting them – for the second time in three years.
In 2019 the police body apologised after councillors and officials were unhappy that they appeared to have been consulted about the appointment of Chief Superintendent Alan Gibson as Divisional Commander after the event.
But this week it appeared the scenario had been repeated.
CS Gibson is moving on to a role within the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan and was this month replaced by CS Barry Blair.
However, the council’s public safety committee members were told that chief executive Carol Beattie had written to Police Scotland to advise of the council’s “disappointment” that Police Scotland had “failed to follow its legal obligations”.
While it is the chief constable of Police Scotland who has the final say on the appointment, the council has a right to contribute their thoughts.
In a report to the councillors, officials said: “The Assistant Chief Constable wrote to the chief executive on 10 November 2022 to advise of a change in personnel in the role of Divisional Commander.
“The chief executive responded in a letter dated November 17 2022 expressing the council’s disappointment that Police Scotland had failed to follow its legal obligations during the recruitment selection process.
“Police Scotland is obliged in terms of section 44 of The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 to consult the local authority before designating an officer to carry out the Local Police Commander role.
“At the time of CS Gibson’s appointment in 2019, Police Scotland failed to consult before making the appointment.
“The council agreed at its meeting on 5 December 2019 to write to the Chief Constable and the Scottish Police Authority to advise of the council’s dissatisfaction that the law on consultation appeared not to have been complied with.
“The council’s concerns were acknowledged at that time and it is disappointing that Police Scotland has again failed to consult with the council before appointing a new Divisional Commander.”
CS Gibson told councillors he had also discussed the issue with Ms Beattie and suggested that details in the letter had not been “explicit enough” and that had been taken on board for the benefit of all local authorities and “lessons learned”.
CS Blair and CS Gibson attended the meeting, with members welcoming the new postholder and saying they looked forward to working with him. They also thanked the outgoing commander for his work, particularly given the challenges of the Covid pandemic.
In 2019, Labour councillor Chris Kane, now the leader of the council, had said: “I suggest Police Scotland starts to treat us as a genuine partner rather than a minor inconvenience in the process”, while chief executive Carol Beattie said “to say we were given an open and transparent opportunity to be consulted wouldn’t be accurate”.
In March 2020 Deputy Chief Constable Will Kerr apologised saying: “I have directed a review of our processes around engaging and consulting with local authorities on any future nominations, to ensure that no appointment is made until the relevant local authority has been consulted and a formal response to any proposed candidate received.”
