Scottish Government accused of ‘shameful neglect’ over asbestos in police stations

The Scottish Conservatives have accused the Government of “shameful neglect” after figures show that more than 170 Scottish police stations contain asbestos.

The figures, obtained by the party through a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, show that 177 police stations around the country contain the substance.

Every region in Scotland has stations with asbestos in them, with the highest number being found in Aberdeenshire and Moray where 25 buildings contain the material, followed by 23 in Greater Glasgow and 21 in Tayside.

The FoI figures also show four police stations contain reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac), which has been shown to be susceptible to structural failure.

The party pointed out that the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) has warned for years about the state of police stations in Scotland.

It also referenced a 2019 Holyrood committee hearing in which former SPF general secretary Calum Steele described the Ayr station as “probably being carved out of asbestos”.

The party’s justice spokesman Liam Kerr said the figures should be an “urgent wake-up call” to the Government.

“It is utterly appalling and downright dangerous that any of Scotland’s police stations should still contain asbestos,” he said.

“The fact the vast majority do across the country is deeply alarming and puts our hardworking officers and staff at great risk.

The Conservatives’ Liam Kerr described the figures as ‘shocking’. PA Media

“These shocking findings are the latest example of the SNP’s shameful neglect of Police Scotland.

“They have ignored warnings for years about Scotland’s crumbling police estate and left officers and staff working in these buildings to face the consequences.

“This must be an urgent wake-up call for the SNP Justice Secretary to properly fund our police estate and guarantee asbestos will be removed from all of these stations where it is safe to do so as quickly as possible.”

Figures released in April under a previous FoI request by the party showed there were 333 stations around the country in need of repairs, with the north-east region being the highest with 53 stations needing work.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “While responsibility for managing the police estate is for Police Scotland, we support their work to address issues in police buildings and welcome their commitment to providing a safe environment for officers, staff and the public.

“We have more than tripled the policing capital budget since 2017-18 and we are investing a record £1.64 billion for policing this year.

“This includes £70m of capital funding to invest in resources and estates.”