Calls have been made to halt the control room closures in Aberdeen and Inverness after it emerged Police Scotland had withdrawn the tender for a new “critical” call handling system.
The multi-million pound procurement of the new system for C3 Division, which handles emergency calls, has been put hold, sparking fears it may not be in place before the two call centres close this year.
Police Scotland plans to scrap call centres in Aberdeen in October and Inverness as quickly as June, leaving 999 and 101 calls from the north and north-east to be answered in the central belt.
Critics have claimed that the loss of local knowledge when the call centres close could put lives at risk.
Labour North East MSP Lewis Macdonald yesterday said the closure plans are “entirely reliant” on the new IT system being in place – and should not go ahead without it.
He was echoed by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie, who said it was “inconceivable that (Police Scotland) would press ahead in these circumstances”.
A Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland (HMICS) report into the control room closures suggested the control rooms should not be closed until there were “independent assurances” about their ability to operate safely.
Last night, the force said it was pursuing “best practice” to revisit the tender “in the light of a changing policing environment”.
Mr Macdonald said: “After the M9 tragedy, the HMICS report made it clear that the planned closures should not go ahead unless systems and staffing were in place for the new virtual control rooms to operate safely and effectively.
“I believe that the cancellation of the IT tender by Police Scotland casts doubt over the safety of future contact, command and control, and that plans to close the Aberdeen control rooms should be reversed.”
Mr Rennie has now demanded the control room closures in Aberdeen and Inverness be “suspended until the IT procurement is resolved.
But Val Thomson, Assistant Chief Constable Contact, Command and Control, Custody and Criminal Justice said: “The procurement of IT was always intended to be the last part of the project following completion of the remodelling of the C3 division.
“It is best practice for Police Scotland to revisit continuously plans for procurement in the light of a changing policing environment.”
The Scottish Government said the justice secretary had been told the closures would be halted until there is “independent assurance that Police Scotland is ready”.