Interested in hearing about a new police station for Salisbury and south Wiltshire?
We held an engagement event being by Wiltshire PCC Philip Wilkinson and Wiltshire Police Chief Constable Kier Pritchard.
This presentation was given to a panel of senior police officers and executives. Information is included regarding the possible options available to provide an improved policing service for the south of the county, which includes a potential new police station.
2. Your Panel
PCC
Philip Wilkinson
Wiltshire Police
Chief Constable
Kier Pritchard
Wiltshire Police
Assistant CC
David Minty
Wiltshire Police
/ OPCC
Chief Finance Officer
Clive Barker
Wiltshire Police
Supt
Liz Coles
Responsible for
county policing
3. Background
Wiltshire Police
moved into Bourne Hill
July 2014
PCC
takes office
26 August 2021
PCC elected asked for
operational review
2 September 2021
CC reported back
in operational review
20 October 2021
OPCC tasked with Police to identify
options that support operational
requirement
20 October 2021
Working with partners to
identify and review of possible
options
From October to current
4. • Issue of policing service in the south – both for staff and residents
– has been known about for some time.
• Successfully sharing space with Wiltshire Council colleagues but it became clear Bourne Hill was not fit-for
purpose for an agile, modern, police service.
• Last four years has placed unprecedented demand on Wiltshire Police:
Novichok and Covid bought those issues to the fore.
• Also delayed any sustained focus on an operational review but background work ongoing.
• Pleased to see focus from the PCC
– it echoed everything our Executive team had been listening to.
• A review of custody requirements for the council was carried out in 2015.
• This was updated as part of the Operational Review
of policing estate in 2022.
Operational Review
5. Wiltshire Police advised the OPCC the following would be needed to deliver a quality, trusted,
police service to the south of the county:
Dedicated facilities to carry out basic policing actions: parade, briefings, interviews and
investigations
Confidential spaces: for PACE compliant interviews, meetings and briefings
Adequate storage: including vehicles, equipment and exhibits
Secure and safe: for our officers and staff and the public (including victims)
Flexible space: to adapt to changing operational requirements
The ultimate priority must be to ensure that Wiltshire Police
are providing a quality police service for our victims,
witnesses and communities.
Wiltshire Police operational advice
6. • 1.2 acres absolute min. in size as well as 120 + car parking spaces required, Police station and
ancillary buildings. Significantly larger if providing custody and CID functions
• Site within 5 miles of Salisbury city centre (preferably within the ring road)
• Easy access to road network / infrastructure / public transport links and adjacent to suitable
neighbours given nature of policing impact and security requirements
• Ability to make our site secure with fencing / barriers
• Refurbishment of building possible but may limit operational capability
Operational requirement for police site
7. • Our frontline and response staff love their job
• They want to deliver a quality, efficient, policing service in the south of the county
but feel hampered by the facilities available to them to carry out their role
– eg: not enough private interview rooms, being split across sites in south
• Having a police station with all policing functions under one roof
will enable them to deliver their role
• Officers and staff have made it clear they still want to feel connected to communities
• Feedback from staff and associations on current Bourne Hill site highlights concerns around security
and accessibility
• Officers and staff are positive for a new change
How staff feel about Bourne Hill and policing
in the south
8. Looking for a site in Salisbury has been extensive and exhausted all availability.
We have considered and discounted:
• Fugglestone Rd, Salisbury – change of use needed – residential development planned,
similar considerations for disruption to Bourne Hill
• Unit A Smeaton Way, Churchfields, Salisbury – site is too small to accommodate
• Royal Mail sorting office, Fisherton Street – site is too small to accommodate
• Watt Road, Churchfields Industrial Estate – too complex, too small, security issues,
high cost
• Milford Trading Estate, Salisbury – site too small
• Former Bingo Hall, Endless St, Salisbury – site too small, conservation and flood risk area, total demolition in a
town centre location
• Brown Street, Salisbury – site too small and complex, high cost, high disruption
• Salisbury College car park development – too small with planning restraints
Sites considered but not suitable
and discounted
9. Separate Facilities
at Amesbury and
Wilton Road
High post Hub model
with Touchdown at
Amesbury and
Salisbury City Centre -
NO custody
High post Hub model
with Touchdown at
Amesbury and
Salisbury City Centre
-
NO custody but 20
EXTRA officers
High post Hub model
with Touchdown at
Amesbury and
Salisbury City Centre
-
WITH custody **
Initial One off Costs
(Works, Land, etc)
£23.123m £18.291m £18.291m £33.416m
Annual Running
Cost
(Staffing,
Maintenance, etc)
£1.460m £1.259m £1.928m £3.269m
Programme Length 4.5 years 4.5 years 4.5 years 5.5 years
30 year Net Present
Value of Option £49.554m £41.083m £53.194m £92.595m
Finance
and
Considerations
** To run a Custody unit, it requires a Sgt and 4 Detention Officers 24/7 at a cost of £1.426m p.a.
In addition to this the maintenance liability of running a compliant custody is significant.
As this is an annual cost, it has to be considered for all 30 years leading to a very high overall comparable cost - £92m NPV.
The construction programme is also expected to take 12 months longer than the NO custody option.
10. Options being considered
• Do nothing - wait until a suitable site of sufficient size becomes
available in the city centre
• Options have been explored with Wiltshire Council to refurbish
Bourne Hill to provide an improved working environment for staff and
better service for residents
• Due to space constraints, coupled with the operational review which
outlined that Bourne Hill in its current form does not meet policing
purposes into the future, Do Nothing is the least preferred option
Option 1 : Do nothing – Stay at Bourne Hill
11. Option 2 : Split site – Wilton Road and Amesbury
Explore a potential for building a new community policing hub on land at the back of the old
Police station at Wilton Road – and continue to provide CID functions at a refurbished
Amesbury.
30-year cost: £49.554m Delivery: 4.5 years
Amesbury Police Station Wilton Road sites, Salisbury
12. Option 2 : Split site – Wilton Road and Amesbury
Strengths Weaknesses
Wilton Rd site is in the city centre so there is no
need for the additional touchdown and a front
counter service in Salisbury
Not optimum model for police with services split across two
sites
PCC already owns the land Salisbury and
Amesbury
Insufficient space to accommodate any custody, fleet
requirements, and required parking
Two site model could provide some resilience in
disaster planning
Impact of sites in residential areas could significantly disrupt
the community
Delivering two separate complex building projects will take
longer, be more expensive and riskier to achieve
Cost of refurbishing two sites will be expensive in challenging
financial circumstances
Limited available space will limit ability to adapt to future
policing requirements
13. Option 3: A New-Build Station outside city centre
• Explore an opportunity for a new
build police station (including
CID functions) outside city
centre with a police office and
enquiry desk in city centre
• Current opportunity exists at
High Post near Salisbury
30-year cost: £41.083m
Delivery: 4.5 years
14. Option 3: A New-Build Station outside city centre
Strengths Weaknesses
Operational efficiencies and benefits achieved
by all services being in one location and
improved collaborative working
Single location provides limited resilience in a
disaster planning scenario
Opportunities to make a ‘fit for purpose 21st
century facility’ that encourages an efficient and
effective policing service
Not in central location for public access but can be
mitigated by visible police office in city centre. Still
within 5 miles of centre to meet operational
requirement
As it is a new site, it can be fully built and fitted
out, with phased occupation from existing sites,
resulting in reduced operational down-time in
transition phase
Cost of a new-build station in challenging financial
circumstances
Opportunities to include fleet services as full
user requirements We do not this to be a viable option
15. • Cells would be under-utilised
• Shortened Prisoner Transport Team
travel time
• Extra capacity to deliver specific
operations
• Land required increases, planning
more complex
• Significant financial savings would
have to be found and missed
opportunity for other investments
• No requirement to find 25 officers
from existing staffing requirement to
run custody
• Opportunity to invest 20 additional
officers in the South
• Design and build process simpler –
public and operational benefits
realised more quickly
• Facilities are less complex: easier
and less costly to maintain
WITH custody unit
30 year cost: £92.595m
5.5 year delivery
WITHOUT custody unit
30 year cost: £41.083m
4.5 year delivery
Option 3: With custody or without
16. Custody
• Total Custody throughput for the whole of Wiltshire in the last year (Oct 21-Sept 22) was 8,303 with 1,334
being from Salisbury/Amesbury CPT’s
• Maximum currently able to be held across the estate at any one time is 19 in Melksham and 39 in
Swindon. The current average daily arrest rate is 23 across Swindon and Wiltshire
• Staffing establishment across the estate currently is 10 Custody Sgts, 10 Support Sgts, 1 Custody Co-
Ordinator and 36 Detention Officers
• A new custody unit would require a minimum of 7 custody Sgts with between 15 and 20 Detention Officers
• Based on the 2015 review a third custody unit would likely have a utilisation rate of 16%
• It is accepted that there may be an increase in arrests with a custody unit in the South. However, even if
the increase met the level of arrests made in Trowbridge, which has the highest arrest rate in Wiltshire and
Swindon (arrests against crime volume), there would be an increase of 736 arrests per year or 2 per day
on average.
17. Custody Provisions (Wilts and Similar Forces)
Gloucestershire
1
633, 558 (2018)
50
10
7,090 (2017)
17
32
Wiltshire Police
July 2014
Population
July 2014
Now
2 Custody Units
July 2014
Cells
July 2014
Prisoners through
July 2014
Police Officers to staff
July 2014
9,665 (21-22)
July 2014
727,000 (2020)
July 2014
58
21 Sgts
+ 36 DOs
July 2014
New Build with Custody
3 Custody Units
July 2014
-
July 2014
78
Similar
July 2014
28 Sgts
+ 56 DOs
July 2014
Bedfordshire
2
669,339 (2019)
39
8,686(2019)
26
32
Northamptonshire
2
714,392 (2014)
62
10,897 (2017)
27
25
Custody Unit
Population
Cells
Holding cells
Prisoners through
Police Officers
DOs
18. Conclusion
Taking operational need and guidance first and foremost, and supported by expert planning and
financial advice, our conclusions are:
• A new purpose-built police station, with all key functions, with a point police in visible
areas of Salisbury and Amesbury. This option meets all requirements and can be delivered
within 4.5 years and is cost effective
• Opportunity at High Post should be explored as potentially viable solution, subject to
planning, finance etc.
• No custody does impact policing, increasing prison transfer times. This impacts
operational effectiveness and public confidence
• Custody not cost effective – PCC can invest an additional 20 police officers, ring fenced
for Salisbury and South teams to better mitigate this
• More effective, flexible, and visible than investing in a custody unit. Custody unit costs
more and removes officers from frontline
20. Guidelines for a mutually respectful
session
• Please raise your hand and we will come to each person in turn
• Please be respectful in how you treat each other – listen to responses
• Abusive language will not be tolerated - you will be asked to leave
• We will have questions from the floor: each questioner will be allowed one follow up question and
answers should be no more than five minutes per response
21. Separate Facilities
at Amesbury and
Wilton Road
High post Hub model
with Touchdown at
Amesbury and
Salisbury City Centre -
NO custody
High post Hub model
with Touchdown at
Amesbury and
Salisbury City Centre
-
NO custody but 20
EXTRA officers
High post Hub model
with Touchdown at
Amesbury and
Salisbury City Centre
-
WITH custody **
Initial One off Costs
(Works, Land, etc)
£23.123m £18.291m £18.291m £33.416m
Annual Running
Cost
(Staffing,
Maintenance, etc)
£1.460m £1.259m £1.928m £3.269m
Programme Length 4.5 years 4.5 years 4.5 years 5.5 years
30 year Net Present
Value of Option £49.554m £41.083m £53.194m £92.595m
Finance
and
Considerations
** To run a Custody unit, it requires a Sgt and 4 Detention Officers 24/7 at a cost of £1.426m p.a.
In addition to this the maintenance liability of running a compliant custody is significant.
As this is an annual cost, it has to be considered for all 30 years leading to a very high overall comparable cost - £92m NPV.
The construction programme is also expected to take 12 months longer than the NO custody option.
22. • Wiltshire Police fully agree with a New Build police station
• Expect the solution to provide modern, future-proof, policing facilities to enable the force to
deliver a quality policing service for the south
• Continue to engage and update with residents happy to talk to residents
• Project team will continue discussions with High Post, no commitment and all subject to planning
etc
• Continued horizon scan of any suitable sites
• Any issues, concerns about sites will be worked through planning processes
Next Steps
