£700k consultants’ bill as force faces cuts

SCOTLAND’S police service is to spend nearly £700,000 of taxpayers’ money on private consultants to draw up plans for its future ‘strategy’ – including job cuts.

The Mail revealed secret proposals earlier this week to axe up to 300 officers amid a deepening cash crisis, sparking fears over the risk to public safety.

It emerged yesterday that a firm of consultants has been handed a major contract for ‘strategy development’ as part of a project called Policing 2026.

It will include working out how many officers and civilian staff will be needed in future.

Initial plans are for the loss of hundreds of police officers, to be replaced with largely civilian staff who will specialise in combating cyber-crime.

The Scottish Police Federation (SPF), representing rank-and-file officers, has warned of the effect of budget cuts on the force, including the rationing of bin bags and the shelving of investigations into drug-dealers to save cash on overtime costs.

Last night, there was concern over the huge sums of money that will be spent on a private firm at a time of growing financial crisis.

SPF general secretary Calum Steele said: ‘At a time when the police service is on its knees financially, spending a massive amount of money on private consultants to tell us what we already know seems like madness.’

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Douglas Ross said: ‘We keep hearing from Police Scotland’s top brass just how much financial strain they’re under.

‘So people will find it puzzling that the service is spending this hefty amount on consultants. Surely senior officers and police staff could be developing strategies for a decade down the line, rather than pricey external bodies taking resources away from the front line.’

Andrew Flanagan, chairman of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), said yesterday it had ‘approved a contract with Deloitte to assist with our strategy development work for Policing 2026 – that had a value of £694,000.’

Deloitte declined to comment last night on the project, which is expected to conclude by April next year. Mr Flanagan said the contract was awarded ‘following a very robust procurement’ process.

It is understood the decision was taken to contract a private firm so that police could claim plans for future job cuts were devised by an outside body.

One insider said: ‘They don’t think anyone would believe the police if they published proposals themselves so they brought in a private company. It’s like giving them your watch and asking them to tell you the time – we already know what the problems are.’

There were also reports last night that the SPA had set aside a contingency fund of £2million to pay for the report, which the SPA denied.

In June it emerged that – as part of a separate consultation – ministers were asking the public what they believe police should be doing, as violent and sexual crimes soar.

But the move came under fire from victim support campaigners who feared it could pave the way for cuts to services.

Last night, Scottish Labour justice spokesman Claire Baker said the ‘reality is that Police Scotland’s finances are in turmoil after years of cuts under the SNP’.

She said: ‘Officers and staff should be getting the support and resources they need but instead they are facing huge cuts and uncertainty about where the axe will fall.’