Force may ask for cash after helicopter operation
Grampian Police costs soared to £250,000 after probe into Super Puma crash
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Grampian Police want to urge the Scottish Government to reimburse some of the £250,000 cost of dealing with the fatal North Sea helicopter crash.
The force’s overtime bill soared to an estimated £225,000 in the days following the incident, which claimed the lives of 16 men on April 1.
About £25,000 was spent on other services and supplies.
Chief Constable Colin McKerracher said the costs were significant. He is encouraging the police board, which is meeting in Aberdeen this morning, to approve an approach to SNP ministers, given the “exceptional nature” of the operation.
Board convener Martin Greig is confident members will back the call, but warned last night that frontline policing could be affected if the government rejects the request. Aberdeen City Council Liberal Democrat group member Kate Dean and city MSPs Nicol Stephen and Lewis Macdonald all said they hoped Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill would give serious consideration to the board’s plea.
The Grampian Police budget is already under pressure because it has been forced to pay half of a £781,000 police pensions shortfall bill after Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray councils refused to meet the full cost.
Mr Greig said the force expected to make budget savings of £5million over three years. He added: “Every police force has to deal with unexpected additional pressures from time to time.
“So I think it is right to make a bid for additional funding when there is good cause to do so.
“What suffers most of all whenever there are budget pressures is frontline policing.
“Staffing accounts for the largest proportion of expenditure and that is where savings could have to be found if the request is rejected.”
Mrs Dean said she thought a reimbursement claim was “justified”.
She said: “This was not foreseeable expenditure so it would be real pity if policing service to the rest of the community has to suffer because money has been spent on this necessary duty.”
Mr Stephen, Liberal Democrat MSP for Aberdeen South, said: If the request is rejected, there could be serious consequences for the fight against crime in the north-east.”
Aberdeen Central Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald added: “Grampian Police have already faced a serious hit to their budget through the Scottish Government’s failure to meet the cost of police pensions.
“The funding settlement is therefore inadequate already and if the board feel they cannot meet additional incident costs without affecting frontline services, it is imperative that Kenny MacAskill steps in and fills that funding gap.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said it would consider any request for additional police force funding.
A catastrophic gearbox failure caused the Super Puma, Flight 85N, to fall from the sky around 11 miles off the coast of Peterhead.
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