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| MacAskill`s u-turn on future of forensic lab may not be enough, warns Macdonald |
MacAskill`s u-turn on future of forensic lab may not be enough, warns Macdonald
Aberdeen Central MSP Lewis Macdonald today welcomed Kenny MacAskill`s u-turn on proposals to close the forensic science laboratory in Aberdeen, but warned that the go-ahead for a new forensic lab in Dundee could still be bad news for Aberdeen.
'This stay of execution allows the case for Aberdeen to be made," Lewis Macdonald said today, 'but the Aberdeen lab is still on Death Row.
'Kenny MacAskill told me on 14 April that there were 'no plans for the Scottish Government to carry out a separate consultation exercise in considering the business case which SPSA has put forward', so I am delighted that he has done a u-turn on this vital issue.
'But the proposal before Ministers was for a new lab in Dundee, in place of the existing labs in Dundee and in Aberdeen, and so today's announcement that the new Dundee lab is to go ahead, regardless of the new consultation on Aberdeen, is a cause for real concern.
'If the new Dundee lab can only be paid for by closing Aberdeen, then this new consultation will only be window-dressing. If Ministers had wanted to ensure a level playing field, they would have postponed the Dundee decision until they had consulted properly on Aberdeen.'
Lewis Macdonald, whose Aberdeen Central constituency includes the forensic lab on Nelson Street, has been campaigning against closure proposals from the Scottish Police Services Authority since being warned of secret closure plans by staff in February this year.
He said today:
'Staff, unions, police officers and the police board will want to know if Kenny MacAskill will keep his promise of 'a full, frank and transparent consultation' on closure plans.
'I will hold him to that promise and take him at his word. I will ask again for the public to be consulted, and for responses to the consultation process to be published.
'That way, we can see whether this really is to be a genuine consultation at the second attempt, or if Kenny MacAskill is simply going through the motions.
'I will also ask him directly whether both Aberdeen and the new lab in Dundee are viable, and whether he will provide the necessary funds to support both sites.'
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