Budget cuts risk operational independence of Police Scotland
The operational independence of Police Scotland is under “serious threat” due to a “long-term structural funding deficit” a former chief officer has warned.
Writing in the Scotsman, Tom Wood, former deputy chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police before it was amalgamated into a national force, said the formation of Police Scotland will see the overall budget fall by double the planned amount by 2026.
He wrote: “The problem is rooted way back in the 2013 formation of Police Scotland. One of the drivers of that reform was cost-savings. It was planned to strip out over £1 billion from the overall budget by 2026. Bad enough, but over the first seven years of this plan, our civil servants have been over-zealous. On the current trajectory, by 2026, the overall police budget will have been reduced by over £2 billion.
“Operational independence is central to our policing model. But, as it stands Police Scotland cannot live within its budget. This year there will be a deficit of £44 million and to cover this overspend requires an annual ‘cap in hand’ visit to St Andrews House. It is not a situation conducive to long-term planning or true independence.”
A report published last month by Scotland’s Auditor General, Stephen Boyle, warned that the force was not “financially sustainable” and that officer cuts were needed to curb rising costs at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), which funds Police Scotland and controls its governance.
The SPA overspent by a total of £26.6 million in 2019/20, with the Scottish government making up the gap in additional funding.
More than 85 per cent of the Scottish police budget is spent on officer and staff wages.
A previous SPA plan to achieve financial balance by 2020/21 depended on reducing officer numbers. However, Mr Boyle said due to concerns around the impact of EU withdrawal, and in agreement with the Scottish government, those planned reductions were cancelled.
