It was taken after sustained dialogue with stakeholders and partners in every part of Scotland; after thorough and sustained engagement with people at all levels in the services and with councils and the public; after thorough consideration of all the available evidence; after learning from what others have done, including through an international summit on policing; after a consultation that showed no clear consensus, but which showed strong support for reform; and after the electorate voted overwhelmingly in the Scottish Parliament elections in favour of reforming services.Over the summer, my colleague Roseanna Cunningham and I went around Scotland, visiting...