This is the shocking state of disrepair of one of Police Scotland ’s counter-terrorism bases – flooded with rain water.
The facility in Glasgow ’s Cardonald is also used to look after data on the force’s vehicles.
Footage – leaked to the Sunday Mail – shows how bad weather caused water to pour into the building as well as all over
essential computer equipment.
Politicians and the union that represents rank-and-file officers dubbed the footage “shocking” and “pitiful”.
A source at the force said: “This isn’t from inside a nick where someone can walk in and report a mugging so the public won’t be aware of how dilapidated the building is.
“As an office, it serves a very important function for police. There’s counter-terrorism that goes on there and sensitive work as well as car admin stuff. It’s part of a UK-wide counter-terrorism effort and is being run from a building that is unfit and clearly floods easily.”
The footage is believed to have been shot in August before being passed to us. Dismal downpours at the end of summer saw flooding. Last month Police Scotland bosses warned a Holyrood committee almost a quarter of a billion pounds was needed to bring up their buildings up to a “reasonable condition”.
James Gray, chief financial officer of Police Scotland, told Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee he had surveyed
more than 300 buildings and found the estate to be in a “pretty poor condition”.
He warned some buildings were not wind or watertight and parts of them have had to be “shut down”.
Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for justice Jamie Green said: “It is astonishing and totally unacceptable that officers carrying out vital, potentially life-saving, counter-terrorism duties are being asked to work in an office where rain is coming through the ceiling and soaking computers.
“Scotland’s crumbling police estate should be a source of shame, yet should also come as no surprise after years of SNP neglect.”
Calum Steele, of the Scottish Police Federation, said: “Heavy rain is hardly a freak weather occurrence and the fact that even now the service doesn’t have buildings that are wind and watertight really is pitiful.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We immediately commenced an emergency response to an incident in August 2021 where a police building in Glasgow experienced significant water ingress during an unprecedented period of prolonged, torrential rain. "Urgent repairs were carried out to make the property watertight and enable it to return to its intended use.
"At its inception, Police Scotland inherited a varied estate which had been built up over the course of several decades and which has suffered from an historic lack of investment.
"In 2019 we launched our Estates Strategy which outlined a £400m investment plan, however, our capital allocation challenges are well known.
"We are grateful to officers and staff who continue to work tirelessly in challenging conditions and the organisation is committed to finding solutions which improve the environment from which we operate."
