POLICE resources in Argyll and Bute remain sufficient despite the rise in cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant, the area’s police chief has said.
Chief Superintendent Lynn Ratcliff has assured councillors that work is ongoing to ensure communities are properly covered despite absences.
However, she also told an Argyll and Bute Council committee that plans for the force’s operations during the festive season may be revisited.
The chief superintendent, divisional commander for Argyll and West Dunbartonshire, addressed the council’s community services committee on December 16.
She said: “We have a national operation in Police Scotland that informs of local responses to the pandemic in the force.
“It was stood down over the summer, but with things as they are, it has been stood up again and the real focus is to look nationally at how we support delivery on the ground.
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“In terms of where we are in Argyll and Bute and across other areas, we are seeing it hitting quite significantly in terms of isolation.
“We do have absences on the up, but what I would say is that we are monitoring this on a daily basis and have sufficient numbers to meet all existing demands.
“We are planning ahead and looking to see how we can use the vast resources we do have to support areas where numbers go down.
“We provide daily updates to the police executive and the national operation to ensure numbers are sufficient in Argyll and Bute.”
In a report to go before the council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee the next day, Inspector Roddy MacNeill gave details of plans for the police over the festive period, as reported in the Advertiser last week.
But Ch Supt Ratcliff added: “I will be chairing a senior management team meeting tomorrow to look to ensure we comply with all measures that are in place to protect our workforce while providing a service to communities.
“We will look at resources and review the festive plans which have been implemented in the last couple of weeks. We recognise that these will be affected if absence numbers increase.
“It is very much a moving feast, as it is for all of us, and we will pay very close attention to it in the coming days and, I suspect, weeks.”
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