Public Office to move from Queen Street to Marischal College on 31 May
Police Scotland’s public service counter is set to relocate from Queen Street to Marischal College in Aberdeen, from the end of this month.
From Monday 31 May 2021, the Police Scotland public counter will be based within Marischal College on Broad Street, alongside Aberdeen City Council as part of Police Scotland’s estates strategy to integrate with partner organisations.
Superintendent Murray Main explains: “In October 2020 it was announced that we would be moving from Queen Street police station and entering a new and exciting era of closer partnership working with local authority colleagues as part of Police Scotland’s estates strategy.
“Staff will gradually move out of Queen Street over the course of this year, with some moving to existing police stations, whilst others will co-locate with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils in their respective headquarter buildings of Marischal College and Woodhill House.
“The next step in our gradual exit from Queen Street is moving the public counter services across the road into Marischal College and this will happen on 31 May.
“The new Police Scotland public counter will be located within Aberdeen City Council’s Customer Service Centre which is accessed from Broad Street. The Police Scotland counter will continue to operate seven days a week.
“Queen Street was built over 45 years ago and has accessibility limitations, poor energy efficiency and high maintenance costs. Co-locating with public service partners in shared facilities not only facilitates greater partnership working but also helps to reduce our carbon footprint and help to reduce the long term costs of maintaining the city’s public sector buildings.
“This move is an exciting stage in the project. It follows the transfer of our CCTV staff, who moved to a new custom built facility within Marischal College in November 2020, and some of our police staff and officers who have moved across in the last few weeks.
“We are committed to providing a high standard of service to the community and the move to Marichal College will not change this. Crime, and the circumstances that influence crime, Community Safety and harm reduction can often involve complex issues and require an integrated partnership response.
“Whilst some of our back office staff and departments are working from home, the public counter staff have been working throughout the pandemic. The safety of staff and the public is of upmost importance and so visitors can be assured that the new public counter will have full covid-safety measures in place.
“Our staff and officers are looking forward to this new start in the new offices, working more efficiently with our local authority partners and others, building on the existing strong links we have enjoyed over the years.”
Aberdeen City Council Leader, Councillor Jenny Laing said: “We welcome Police Scotland’s move into Marischal College because by co-locating our operational teams we will ensure our partnership working is further enhanced as our staff will have increased opportunities to work collaboratively.
“Marischal College is one of the city’s most iconic, beautiful, and well-known buildings and the move will continue to ensure Police Scotland have a high visibility police station in the city centre.”
