Gaps in road safety education after the establishment of Police Scotland could cost around £200,000 to plug, a report to councillors this week will say.
Members of Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee will hear that changes to working arrangements are putting some work at risk.
In particular, the formation of Police Scotland has led to a major reduction in police road safety advisors in the North-east. There are only two in post, compared to 10 just three years ago.
The plan makes no provision for carrying on with road safety partnerships, which took place with the former Grampian Police, councillors will be told.
Since the late 1980s road safety education was delivered in the main by the police along with local authorities.
Initial work to see how to bridge the gap in road safety education estimates £200,000 a year would be needed to provide a similar level of service, money not provided for in Aberdeenshire Council’s budget.
Aberdeenshire Council’s head of transportation, Ewan Wallace, said: “There is no provision for this level of expenditure in the council’s approved budget.“No funding has been reallocated at a national level to address for the service previously provided by Grampian Police on behalf of the public sector in the North-East of Scotland.
“In the past, this was very much a partnership, delivering an extensive and progressive programme of road safety education throughout the area.
“So it stands to reason that the withdrawal of participation by one of the significant partners would have an effect.
“While Aberdeenshire Council continues to work on reducing the numbers of people killed and seriously injured on our roads, we need clarification from Police Scotland on how the gaps in road safety education are to be filled.”