Police watchdog under fire for ‘all is well’ report

Politicians round on SPA chief after series of failings within single force

The outgoing chief of Police Scotland’s watchdog has been accused of “hubris of the highest nature” after giving the single force top performance marks.

The 2016-17 assessment by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) found crime is reducing in most categories, while the majority of crimes are being detected.

It said Police Scotland continues to provide “a high-quality” service across the country. This is despite the fact the report noted there had been an increase in some violent crime and sexual crimes.

Andrew Flanagan, chairman of the SPA, resigned last week amid a bullying scandal and cover-up claims.

Police Scotland and the SPA have also come under fire in recent years over weak financial leadership, the failure of a £46 million IT system and the robustness of its call-handling system.

Claire Baker, Scottish Labour’s justice spokeswoman, said: “The SPA has just lost its chair, it has lost the confidence of MSPs and it is losing the confidence of the public.

“To give itself a pat on the back is hubris of the highest nature and just highlights the failings of the current management team. Whilst officers and staff deserve credit for keeping our communities safe, it is clear the SPA still needs a drastic overhaul.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur claimed the report does a disservice to police officers and encouraged “honest and open conversations”.

The force dealt with 2.6 million calls during the year, up 1.1% on the previous year, and recorded 1.6 million incidents, the review states.

There was a 2.4% decrease in recorded crime while the force saw a 0.6% decrease in overall violent crime.

But there was a 5.2% increase in some non-sexual violent crimes, driven by increases in serious assaults, robberies, threats and extortion, while sexual crime also rose by 5.2%.

Some progress has already been made to address the increases, while action has also been taken to tackle under-reporting, the review found.

Elsewhere, it noted local policing is “continuously improving”, with feedback from local authority scrutiny bodies that community interests are being taken into account.

Meanwhile, at the end of 2016-17, public confidence levels reported by Police Scotland stood at 81%, but there is recognition more data is needed in this area.

Despite these high-profile issues, the review found oversight of policing had been strengthened by the SPA board, which has “enhanced its skills and experience in key areas such as finance, audit and ICT, and reinforced its grip of the police budget and oversight of key change programmes like call handling”.

Mr Flanagan said: “SPA has assessed that Police Scotland met its annual objectives and continued to deliver a service to a high quality and consistency.

“The Policing 2026 programme has provided unprecedented insight into what we do now, what we will require to do in the future and how to move from one to the other.”