More than £22,000 of taxpayers’ money has been spent by Police Scotland to maintain a closed-down station in Portlethen.
A freedom of information (FoI) request from the Scottish Conservatives show that seven stations across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire were closed over the past five years, including Portlethen, which shut its doors in 2023.
In total, £22,288.69 has been spent on the upkeep of the mothballed station since its closure, as well as an additional £4,581.60 in business rates.
£51,497.68 has been spent in rates for Peterhead station which closed in 2020, with a further £11,920.58 going repairs.
However, the one that has caused the force the most is Grampian Police’s former Queen Street headquarters, which have cost £398,749.09 in upkeep costs since closing in 2021.
Elsewhere across the north-east, since closing last year, £6,004.32 has been paid for the upkeep of Seaton police station in Aberdeen and despite this, £4,880.40 was spent on business rates.
However, Police Scotland defended this and said learning from their “successful” estates transformation in the north-east will “influence” work in other parts of the country.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr, who represents the north-east at Holyrood said: “Parts of Police Scotland’s estate across the north-east are no longer fit for purpose.
“The force just can’t afford to maintain the fabric of some stations, which have fallen foul of years of centralisation by the SNP.
“That presents a big challenge to officer visibility, which is so important for community policing.
Police ‘stuck with huge bills’
“Police Scotland is still stuck with huge bills for buildings which are no longer used.
“Millions of pounds have been spent over the last five years on some of A Division’s oldest buildings, including almost £1.2m on the old Queen Street HQ before it was sold to Aberdeen City Council.
“The force is still stuck with the cost of upkeep for stations like Portlethen and Peterhead, which should be replaced.
“And, unbelievably, Scottish Government business rates are still being charged to Seaton. This should all be getting spent on training and retaining officers.”
In response, the Scottish Government said: “While decisions around police stations are operational matters for the chief constable, Police Scotland continues to dispose of properties no longer fit for purpose or required, while at the same time reinvesting in purpose built properties to deliver modern premises.
“We have more than tripled the policing capital budget since 2017-18 and despite unprecedented challenges to public finances, our draft budget for 2025-26 includes a record £1.62 billion for policing. This includes £75 million of capital funding – an uplift of more than £10m from 2024-2025 – to increase investment in resources and estates.”
Transforming Aberdeen police stations ‘a priority’
A Police Scotland spokesman added: “In 2013, Police Scotland inherited a very large and ageing estate, much of which was not fit for purpose, with high maintenance costs and environmental inefficiencies.
“Necessary repairs and investment have been made over the years to ensure our buildings have met health and safety requirements. However, as we have highlighted for some time, spending money on maintaining and repairing old and inefficient buildings is not best use of public money.
“Over the last several years, transforming the estate in Aberdeen has been a priority.
“Buildings which were surplus to requirements were disposed of, including Queen Street station, which was at a point of requiring significant investment to bring it up to modern building standards.
“Our existing buildings at Kittybrewster, Bucksburn, Nelson Street and Nigg all underwent major refurbishment in 2021 to accommodate officers and staff who moved from Queen Street, plus significant investment was made into new premises at Marischal College and Woodhill House.”
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