New Police and Fire Headquarters

21st February 2012

The Justice Secretary today welcomed the announcement that the interim headquarters of the Police Service of Scotland will be based at the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan Castle and the interim operating base for the new Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will be based at Perth Community Fire Station.

Subject to Parliamentary approval of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill, these arrangements will be in place before the new services are expected to be established on April 1, 2013.

Mr MacAskill said:"The transition to the new services should be as smooth as possible and using existing venues as interim headquarters will keep costs and disruption to a minimum. Regardless of where the small leadership teams are based, local services with strong connections to the communities that rely on them will continue to be at the heart of the new police and fire services.

"I warmly welcome the decision of the services to base their leadership teams at Tulliallan Castle and Perth Community Fire Station on an interim basis. The final decision on where headquarters will be based will of course be a matter for the new Scottish Police Authority and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, however I would expect the various support services to be based in locations around the country.

"Both of these locations are suitable as convenient, cost-effective, flexible venues for the new leadership to lead a smooth transition and ensure communities across Scotland continue to experience excellent police and fire and rescue services.

"Importantly, neither of the locations are current headquarters, and this will help ensure that there is no disruption to the public or to senior officers during the transition to the new services.

"I also welcome confirmation that the interim headquarters will be operational before the new Police Service of Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are expected to be established on April 1, 2013."