POLICE call centres have been given a stay of execution in the aftermath of the M9 crash deaths.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Derek Penman called a temporary halt to a key programme of closures designed to deliver many of the huge savings the national force is expected to deliver.
His recommendation - immediately welcomed by senior officers - came in to an interim report in to call handling ordered by Justice Minister Michael Matheson after a couple were found dead in their car three days after they crashed on the motorway.
Lamara Bell, 25, lost her fight for life a week after she was critically injured in accident on Sunday July 5. Her boyfriend John Yuill, 28, had died at the scene.
But Mr Penman - a potential candidate to succeed outgoing Chief Constable Sir Stephen House - suggested closures of facilities in Inverness, Aberdeen and Dundee should be put on hold until staff shortages were dealt with.
He said: “We recognise the constraints placed upon Police Scotland as a result of staff shortages in Bilston Glen, Inverness, Aberdeen and Dundee, but considers that the practice of diverting overflow calls to the main sites in Govan, Motherwell and Bilston Glen is creating additional risk.
“This will not be resolved until there is a full complement of trained staff supported by effective systems, processes and procedures in the main sites and we strongly believe that, until that is the case, the facilities in Inverness, Aberdeen and Dundee should remain in place.”
Mr Penman's investigation, meanwhile, also praised the work of call centre staff and highlighted improvements in recent months.
Rationalisation of command, control and call centres, the so-called C3s, has always been a key component of the savings envisaged under a single force.
Mr Matheson, accepting the recommendations in Holyrood, said he would make money available to fund the stay of execution - some £1.4m to recruit and train staff. He said: "The M9 incident had terrible consequences and I do not want any family to go through that experience again."
The Justice Secretary came under pressure from Labour's Graeme Pearson, a former deputy chief constable, for initially suggesting the mistake that led the M9 failure was not "systemic".
Mr Matheson responded that this was the guidance he received from Police Scotland. The specifics of the incidents are still under investigation by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner.
There remains strong support for C3 rationalisation within policing, with public and trade union concerns over lack of local acknowledged but not seen as justified.
Niven Rennie, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, said: "We are not saying closing C3 centres is the wrong thing to do, but it is important we take time to do it in the right way, bearing in mind the staff and cultural issues that are highlighted in the interim report."
Assistant Chief Constable Val Thomson, who is responsible for C3, said: "Our call answering times on non emergency lines needed to improve. They have now not only improved but also stabilised in the East and West above the expected levels of performance.
"We have more work to do in the North as we move towards our remodelling."
Aamer Anwar, the solicitor acting on behalf of Lamara Bell's son Keiran Burt, said: "We are conscious that this tragedy has been turned into a political football and very convenient way to scapegoat individuals, but for us it is about why a young boy will face many difficult years of going to sleep and waking up without his mummy.
"We have tried our best to protect Keiran and we know we will never be able to fill the massive void left in his life by the loss of Lamara, but if there is to be a legacy from this tragedy then lessons must be learned as soon as possible, so that no child has to experience what our Keiran is going through."
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