Police monitor group attacked

Police Scotland’s civic watchdog has been dismissed as a governmentappointed quango, blurring transparency and a c c o u n t a b i l i ty in scrutiny of the force.

Reform Scotland said the creation of a single police force was “a mistake” and reform is necessary to reinstate local policing.

The Scottish Police Authority, a board of 11 ministerial appointees from the public and private sector, should be replaced by a much larger board including councillors from every local authority, the think tank has recommended.

It also criticised the Scottish Government’s centralisation of police funding, insisting councils cannot have meaningful input on local policing unless they also control some of the revenue. In a paper on reinventing local policing, Reform Scotland said: “If local authorities are to have any meaningful input into policing in Scotland they must contribute toward the cost of policing. There needs to be a change back to the old system where there is roughly a 50/50 split in funding policing between local authorities and the Scottish Government.”