Police Scotland has signalled their intention to reduce the operating hours for public counters in police stations across Fife.
A survey published by Police Scotland has revealed that the demand for exclusive public counter services such as signing in for bail or turning in lost property only makes up a small percentage of Fife police station traffic.
In line with this finding, Police Scotland are proposing to reduce counter opening times at Dalgety Bay, Glenrothes, Levenmouth, Cowdenbeath, Cupar, St Andrews and are looking to completely remove public counter provision at Cardenden, Oakley, Burntisland, Anstruther, Auchtermuchty and Newport.
Commenting on this news Murdo Fraser MSP said:
“The Police must maintain a clear visible presence in Fife and must be easily accessible to residents across the region. However, the reduction of counter opening times does threaten this.
“The findings of the Police Scotland report back up their recommendations to reduce and in some circumstances close public counter opening times. Understandably, the police are looking to create a more streamlined service but this cannot come at the cost of its public service responsibilities.
“Dalgety Bay and St Andrews will see their 24/7 counter service reduced dramatically to a Monday to Friday 9-5 operation. Such a marked drop in public counter operating hours must be considered carefully.
“Services that are not explicitly classed as core public counter services, but are often provided on the counter, such as making a complaint or reporting a crime or accident must still be made available and a reduction in counter service puts this in danger.”