Exclusive:Vital training facility for Police Scotland recruits out of action 'indefinitely' due to toxic fumes
A vital part of Police Scotland’s officer training facility has been non-operational for at least a fortnight after serious safety issues came to light
A vital training facility for Scotland’s probationer police force has been non-operational for at least a fortnight after serious safety issues came to light.
The recreation block at Tulliallan Castle training centre in Fife is off-limits to officers after a generator fault caused exhaust fumes to be pumped into the building.
Now police union bosses say the failure highlights a widespread issue with underinvestment across the Police Scotland estate.
David Threadgold, from the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), said: “This has led to a lack of the ability to use this facility to train our people. We sell ourselves as an exemplar of policing worldwide and, in some respects, we are.
“But this particular example shows, there has been widespread underinvestment in the police estate generally and it speaks to a wider issue.”
It is understood new recruits spotted smoke in the building on November 14 and an issue was discovered with the electrical wiring. Police Scotland brought in generators as a back-up, but these were found to be faulty and releasing toxic fumes into the rec centre.
Now the building is shut with no date for re-opening. The building is where officer safety training is carried out and includes the gym hall and the Copper Lounge, where recruits socialise and decompress after shift.
A Police Scotland spokesman said work is ongoing to “resolve the power outage as soon as possible and measures are in place to minimise the impact on officer training”.
However, Mr Threadgold said: “There has been chronic underinvestment in policing generally and we're now starting to see that playing out across the country.”
Scotland’s new recruit probation period has increased from 12 weeks to 15 weeks.
Mr Threadgold added: “If the service is going to talk about an increased duration for probation and training, then anyone who needs to use this gym facility has to have it available. Otherwise I don't see how the two points marry.”
The Copper Lounge is a bar where, the SPF boss said, probationers go to destress as a vital part of managing trauma. The physical activity hall is used for safety training and learning skills officers need while on deployment.
“There have been stories in the media about cops being chased with chainsaws,” Mr Threadgold said. “Police assaults have gone through the roof.
“It is acknowledged by the service how important officer safety is, and they have developed a programme to reflect that. But this is about the service's inability to invest and maintain properly, to deliver for cops, and therefore, by extension, the communities.”
On the Copper Lounge, he added: “Yes, there have been issues in this facility, but that facility being removed is one less opportunity for cops to decompress that will no longer exist whilst this isn't working.
“Trauma is inevitable. It's not as if you might be exposed, you will be. When it comes to police officer welfare, the service has to become pro-active in the way that it deals with police officer exposure to trauma.”
Existing figures show the cost for repairs and upgrades across the Police Scotland estate would amount to around £240 million. The union claims the Scottish Government cannot solve the funding pressures with a flat cash budget offer.
Policing numbers are around 2,000 fewer than when Police Scotland came into being in 2013. At the same time, around 20 new pieces of legislation have been introduced.
This has, Mr Threadgold says, had an “impact on service delivery for the public”.
He said that, at a Scottish Police Authority board meeting this week, it was made clear that a flat cash settlement in the Scottish Budget would lead to a recruitment freeze.
“We will fall further behind the curve in respect of cyber crime, the investigation of child sexual exploitation, really significant crime areas that we will be unable to deliver as well as we could,” he said.
“With flat cash, the 2030 policing vision will fail and that was a keynote government policy.”
The Police Scotland spokesman added: “We were made aware of a power outage at the recreation block at Police Scotland Headquarters, Tulliallan on Friday, November 14, 2025.
“Generators were put in place as an interim measure, but have since been withdrawn due to issues with fumes.”