ONE major and unforeseen side-effect of the collapse in recruiting by the major forces has been that the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan Castle has been running at greatly reduced capacity, writes James Freeman.

The situation has become so serious that a number of instructors have been returned to their own forces to resume normal duties. The Herald understands that at one stage the college, now widely accepted as being the finest police training facility in the UK and possibly in Europe, was running at a quarter capacity and is currently half empty.

A redevelopment of the college was started by Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, home affairs Minister during Tory rule, and is going ahead at a cost of #15m. A #4.4m accommodation block was opened only two years ago and a new commandant is currently being sought to replace the incumbent, Mr Hugh Watson, who is retiring.

Strathclyde Police, covering half the Scottish population, supplies the majority of the recruits with the bulk of the remainder coming from Lothian and Borders Police. But, faced with the serious budget cut imposed by last year's financial settlement, Strathclyde had little choice but to freeze recruiting or face the alternative of actually reducing street policing.

Since that was not a realistic option the result was that Tulliallan will, by the time the new financial year starts and recruiting resumes in August, have gone eight months without any intake from Strathclyde or from Lothian and Borders. The college is funded jointly of the Scottish Forces and the Scottish Office. Further cuts in funding of the major forces would cast a shadow over its continuation in its present form.