Investigations into complaints against police soar by a third

THE number of investigations of the single force carried out by the police watchdog has soared by more than a third in the last year.

New figures also show more than 900 reviews of complaints about the way police handled complaints from the public were also undertaken – up by more than a quarter.

The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) revealed in its annual report that it received more than £450,000 from ministers to hire more staff.

Recent high-profile probes include the case of a vulnerable woman who was found dead after police went to the wrong address, in the latest in a series of call-handling blunders. The PIRC is also investigating three bullying complaints against Police Scotland Chief Constable Phil Gormley.

Assistant Chief Constable Bernie Higgins was also suspended last month over criminal allegations, unrelated to Mr Gormley, now being probed by the PIRC following an instruction from the Crown Office. PIRC boss Kate Frame said ‘the growth in workloads’ was ‘straining the capacity’ of the watchdog.

She added: ‘Thanks to a £455,000 boost in funding by the Scottish Government, we have now relieved some pressure by recruiting new staff.’

The report said the PIRC’s investigations team carried out 39 new probes this year, an increase of 34 per cent on last year (29) – and 32 of these cases were referred to the watchdog by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).

Independent complaint-handling reviews – where the public raise concern about how complaints were handled by police – rose from 735 to 903 in the last year. But Mrs Frame insisted this ‘upward trend is to be welcomed, reflecting… our joint efforts with

policing bodies to improve the capture of complaints from the public’.

Meanwhile the union representing procurators fiscal warned that looming job losses due to budget cuts could lead to a ‘diminished’ justice system.

FDA national officer for Scotland Allan Sampson said: ‘The Scottish Government must match resource to commitment or accept the service that can be delivered by the Scottish prosecution service will decline.

‘The COPFS has absorbed cuts of almost £35million since 2010, with up to 200 jobs already expected to be lost over the next five years. It is the wider public that will bear the consequences of a diminished prosecution service if the Scottish Government fails to take action in Thursday’s Budget.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The budget allocation for COPFS in 2018-19 will be confirmed as part of the overall Scottish Government Draft Budget 2018-19 announcement. Staffing decisions within the COPFS are matters for the Crown Agent.’