THE Chief Constable of the new national Scottish police force will be forced to report to MSPs at least once a year to explain the work of the organisation, the Sunday Herald has learned.

The country’s most senior police officer will be quizzed by the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee as part of a system designed to ensure democratic oversight of the body.

The Sunday Herald revealed last week that the SNP Government had decided to merge Scotland’s eight police forces into one to save money, despite fears it will lead to cuts in officer numbers and their civilian support staff.

The move is bitterly opposed by Scotland’s 32 councils, who currently pay half the annual £1.4 billion cost of policing and who want to retain eight forces.

They say there is no evidence to justify the merger and fear it will lead to a poorer service.

Around 100 opponents of the scheme will meet in Edinburgh on Tuesday for a one-day conference organised by the council umbrella group Cosla.

Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill was invited to argue for a single force, but declined.

MacAskill is now trying to head off a bloody war with council bosses by promising that local authorities will be closely involved in the shaping of policing within their boundaries.

Under the new national force set-up, a local police commander would be assigned to each council area to work with local agencies. The senior officers would be required to produce a local policing plan for each area in consultation with the council and other public-sector bodies.

The local commander would then report to councillors on the progress of the plan, and answer questions on priorities and performance.

However, there is concern that councillors may be sidelined by the principal oversight mechanism for the new service, a Scottish Police Board meant to replace the eight local boards.

The structure of the new board is as yet unknown.

A draft business plan produced by the Scottish Government earlier this month merely refers to a Scottish Police Board “with appropriate representation and governance frameworks”.

The Scottish Government estimates public-sector cuts will take £1.7bn out of police budgets over the next 15 years.

Ministers recently consulted with 129 organisations nationwide including councils, health boards and police forces themselves, on three options: whether to move to a single force, keep three regional forces, or improve the current eight-force arrangement.

The current set-up emerged as the most popular option, and the single force the least popular.

However, the single force would save the most money, and would carry the lowest risk.

By cutting overlap and bureaucracy, a new single force should save £390 million in five years, and £1.9bn over 15 years, according to official estimates.

Supporters say it would also be better at dealing with national policing issues such as terrorism, organised crime and people trafficking.

However, there are concerns it will mean fewer police on the streets and a poorer service.

Its £207m start-up costs include £80m for voluntary redundancy payments.

The wage bill for officers will be cut by £47m a year, while wages for non-uniform support staff will be cut by £66m a year.

There are currently around 17,260 police officers and nearly 7500 support staff.

The SNP went into the Holyrood election promising to keep the 1000 extra officers recruited in the last parliament, but the Government’s business case contains no such commitment.

Willie Rennie, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats – who oppose the merger plan – said a single force would concentrate “too much power in the hands of too few people”.

Pat Watters, Cosla president, said there was no evidence to justify the savings claimed, and warned previous reorganisations ran over budget.