SNP has left police watchdog members ‘toothless’

SPA board hits out at Government’s strong influence behind the scenes

AN embattled police watchdog has been criticised by its own board members as “useless”, a “waste of time” and in the “pocket” of the SNP Government, according to academic research.

Senior figures on the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) complained the Scottish Government is too involved in the force oversight body, the paper by Dr Ali Malik found.

One individual said of the body which has been dogged by a string of rows: “Every time we try to bite, the Government removes a tooth... I have been shocked, absolutely shocked at the level of government interaction.”

A Scottish Government spokesman rejected the claims last night, saying it had been “clear about the authority’s independence”.

The SPA has been accused of being slow to deal with controversies such as stop-and-search and armed policing.

Its independence has also been questioned amid claims the Government, which appoints the board members, exerts a strong internal influence behind the scenes.

Dr Malik completed a PhD on how the body has delivered on police governance and accountability.

A summary paper outlining the key elements of his thesis is published today, part of which includes interviews with anonymous SPA board members carried out between March 2015 and May last year.

This means the quotes came from individuals who were on the board during this period, but who are not necessarily still in post.

Board members clearly questioned the Government’s role during the life of the SPA. One is quoted saying: “The central Government throughout the entire process has been far too heavily involved... rather than having a separation of duties between Government, SPA, [and the] police we very much had the Government and the police, and the SPA almost as onlookers…”

A board colleague stated: “There has been a perception and the threat that if we overstep our responsibilities or if we were to upset the chief constable then the Cabinet Secretary would intervene to stop us from whatever it is we were doing.”

Another board member expressed frustration at the SPA’s apparent failure to take the lead on issues such as stop-and-search.

The individual said: “Who can blame the Scottish public in thinking this is a waste of time, this body. Because eventually politicians were making statements on these issues, and HMICS [Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland] were doing something and at the end of the day, the SPA limped into view almost because it had no other option.”

In the full PhD, rather than the summary paper, a board member said of the SPA’s first two years: “We have created an image for ourselves as being ineffective, not being proactive, being reactive, being in the Government’s pocket, being in the chief constable’s pocket, being useless, being on a gravy train – you know all of those things, they are really hard to overturn.”

In a section on the knowledge, skills and competency of board members, Dr Malik’s own findings

suggested they lacked proper training in the first year of the body and “principally relied on Police Scotland” to arrange it, allowing senior officers to “control and present the information they would like to be scrutinised on”.

Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said it “exposes the true extent of SNP ministers’ meddling”.

SPA deputy chairwoman Nicola Marchant said it was “progressing areas for continuing improvement to strengthen its approach and governance of policing”.

The Government said there had been improvements, rejecting “any suggestion of influencing the board or preventing it from functioning effectively”.