Report Summary
This report provides members of the Scottish Police Authority with an overview of how the Police Scotland Estates Masterplan has been developed, the strategic priorities for the estate, and an outline 10-year capital programme of Estates modernisation to support the Police Scotland 2030 vision, revised model of policing and the 3-year business plan.
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Meeting
The publication discussed was referenced in the meeting below
Meeting of the Scottish Police Authority - 28 November 2024
Date : 28 November 2024
Location : The Grand Hall, Merchants House, 7 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 1BA
Background
The Policing Estate in Scotland is unsustainable. A large proportion of the Estate is at the end of its useful economic life and was designed for how policing was delivered half a century ago. It is not designed or sufficiently flexible for how policing will be delivered in the future through the revised model of policing. As a result of long-term under-investment in the Estate, a backlog maintenance bill of £245 million has built up. Even if the £245 million was spent now, it would simply address the structural fabric of the buildings but not enhance them or make them fit for the future policing model.
A lack of ongoing capital funding for the Estate has meant that the approach taken to Estates management in the first 11 years of Police Scotland has been to focus on reactive critical maintenance, primarily focused on compliance requirements in order to keep buildings operational. There has been minimal investment in new and replacement buildings and Estates assets. The organisation spends millions of pounds each year on core systems such as boilers in buildings that are not fit for purpose and at the end of their economic life, simply because there is insufficient money to move to better accommodation.
The graphs below show the different trajectories of investment and ‘regret spend on the Estate between the proposed Masterplan investment and no increase in investment. The first graph shows the “no investment” scenario, the second the Masterplan. The red ‘regret spend’ line is spend on building maintenance in buildings that are not to be retained e.g. installing boilers with a 20-year lifespan in a building that is at the end of its economic life and will be closed in the short to medium term. Such spend is required to keep buildings in operation and deliver policing services to the public due to a lack of alternative accommodation options. Regret spend will grow rapidly unless the investment is made.
GRAPH
The Estates Masterplan has followed best practice asset management processes and has built up the organisation’s requirements. The Masterplan sets out what is required to be done over the next 10 years to modernise the policing Estate to meet the needs of the future.