34Reorganisation of police areas
After section 21 of the [1967 c. 77.] Police (Scotland) Act 1967 there shall be inserted the following section—
“21BReorganisation of police areas
(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, the police forces established and maintained for existing police areas in Scotland under this Act immediately prior to 1st April 1996 shall continue in existence on and after that date in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2)The police forces for the existing police areas of Fife and Dumfries and Galloway shall be the police forces for the new police areas of the same names.
(3)The Secretary of State shall, before 1st April 1996, by order make amalgamation schemes amalgamating the police areas mentioned in the second column of the table below into the combined police areas mentioned in the first column of that table, and the police forces for the existing police areas shown in brackets in the first column shall be the police forces for the new combined police areas.
Table
| Combined area | Police areas comprised |
|---|---|
| Northern (Northern). | Highland, Western Isles, Orkney Islands, Shetland Islands. |
| Grampian (Grampian). | Aberdeenshire, Moray, City of Aberdeen. |
| Tayside (Tayside). | Perthshire and Kinross, Angus, City of Dundee. |
| Central Scotland (Central Scotland). | Stirling, Clackmannan, Falkirk. |
| Lothian and Borders (Lothian and Borders). | City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, the Borders. |
| Strathclyde (Strathclyde). | Argyll and Bute, Dumbarton and Clydebank, City of Glasgow, East Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire. |
(4)Subject to section 19A of this Act, an amalgamation scheme made under this section may contain such provision as the Secretary of State considers necessary or appropriate for the purposes of the scheme including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any provision which is required to be made, or which may be made, in an amalgamation scheme made by virtue of section 19 of this Act.
(5)Before making an amalgamation scheme under this section the Secretary of State shall—
(a)consult such police authorities as appear to him to be affected by the scheme; and
(b)where any such authority submit objections to the scheme, inform that authority in writing whether he accepts the objections and, if he does not, why he does not.
(6)The schemes made by an order under this section shall not take effect before 1st April 1996, except in relation to—
(a)the constitution of joint police boards; and
(b)the carrying out by those boards of any functions necessary to bring the schemes into operation on that date.
(7)An order under this section shall be made by statutory instrument subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.”.