Scottish Government: Police chief is responsible for safety check budgets

The Scottish Government has said they expect Police Scotland to keep on top of health and safety in stations.

The Courier asked for a response from Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, but the government would only provide a statement from a spokeswoman.

The statement claims funding allocation decisions lie with Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA).

The spokeswoman said: “We expect Police Scotland to carry out the necessary health and safety at Broughty Ferry police station in a timely way and expect that they will continue to ensure that in all cases the focus will remain on a ‘health and safety first’ approach for all officers, staff and the public.

“The allocation of resources, including for the police estate, is for the chief constable and SPA to determine. We know that Police Scotland’s Estate Strategy outlines their intention to reinvest £150 million worth of sales of assets back into Police Scotland buildings as part of a total £400m investment.

“We are protecting Police Scotland’s annual budget in real terms in every year of the current parliament, delivering a boost to more than £100 by 2021, despite constraints on Scotland’s public services through a decade of UK austerity.

“Now more than £1.2 billion, our funding for this year includes a 52% increase in the capital budget to allow essential investment in IT infrastructure and support mobile working to enable officers to access information remotely and spend more time in communities.”

Picture: PA. Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone.