Our Club meeting of 21st May was privileged to welcome as speaker, retired Chief Superintendent Andy Morris QPM, who spoke of his role in the creation of ‘Police Scotland’.

This is now the national police force of Scotland and was formed in 2013 with the merger of eight regional police forces, as well as the specialist services of the Scottish Police Services Authority, including the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency. The plan to create Police Scotland was confirmed by the SNP Government in its announcement of 8th September 2011.

It was clear that enormous change had to be managed in a very short time frame, within strict political constraints - and with intense media interest. The constraints included £1.1bn of savings over 10 years, 17,234 police officers maintained, no forced redundancies and no outsourcing.

We heard a story that was remarkably detailed and frank - and one that added understanding to the headline stories familiar from media reporting.

Andy indicated that such a complex undertaking was not accomplished without concerns over the loss of local knowledge and effective incident management. We heard of the recognition that some reputational damage has resulted and that worries over morale remain.

A great deal has been accomplished and Scotland does have an effective national police force. It was exceptionally interesting to understand something of the many decisions that were needed along the way - and the mechanics of making it all happen. It was too a little sobering  to be permitted an insight to some of the things that did not go right first time - and of the many lessons learned including the  on-going work remaining in many areas.

This was an exceptionally interesting talk about significant changes made to a vital service that underpins the freedoms and security of our society. Following many questions a vote of thanks was proposed by Eric Dewhirst.