A north-east council has called for a judicial review into the decision to merge the Aberdeen City police division with Aberdeenshire and Moray’s.
Aberdeen City Council has invited outgoing Chief Constable Sir Stephen House to an urgent business meeting on Thursday amid claims police bosses failed to consult the local authority on the decision.
The council claims it was given written assurances that it would be involved.
The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) approved the merger at a private board meeting on October 27, but the council insists “no engagement or consultation” took place beforehand.
A motion to go before the local authority’s meeting next week asks for the head of legal and democratic services to seek a judicial review of the decision by the SPA.
The motion also highlights the recent HMICS report and recommends that merger plans be halted while Police Scotland focus on stabilising its existing arrangements before making any further changes.
Gordon Graham, vice-convener of the council’s communities committee, has also written to the SPA to raise his concerns about the decision-making process.
Last night, an SPA spokeswoman said it was satisfied that “considerable” local engagement had taken place.
“While acknowledging that it is for the chief constable to decide the divisional structure within which the direction and control of police officers is carried out, the recent decision to proceed was subject to consideration and oversight by the SPA last month,” she said.
“The SPA board were satisfied that considerable local engagement had taken place and that issues raised had been appropriately considered by Police Scotland and reflected in the revised plans.
“These include the retention of the new divisional HQ within the city and dedicated senior resource to support partnership working.
“The SPA is currently carrying out a governance review to ensure that accountability arrangements for policing can build on the lessons learned and ensure robust arrangements are in place for the future.
“We are committed to engaging with Aberdeen City Council in that process. We note the letter from Councillor Graham and we will carefully consider the points raised within it.”