Police need £262m just for routine maintenance
POLICE SCOTLAND could have to spend more than quarter of a billion pounds on routine maintenance over the next decade, new figures have revealed.
Details released under Freedom of Information laws showed the force is facing a bill of £262,952,116 for the upkeep of its buildings and mechanical and electrical systems.
The Liberal Democrats, who obtained the figures from the police, voiced concerns about the “huge bill”, which it claimed was a part of the “botched centralisation” of the force by the Scottish Government.
Justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: “We’ve seen reports of police cars held together with duct tape, leaking interview rooms and officers searching charity shops for gear. Now this Freedom of Information request reveals that, over the next 10 years, the cost of routine maintenance of the police estate will be more than a quarter of a billion pounds.
“That is a huge bill and it is what is required just to keep up, replacing outdated electrical equipment and buildings. It won’t even begin to cover the new investment that is required to ensure officers and staff have the 21st Century resources they need.”
In its response to the Lib Dems, Police Scotland said the estimated spending on maintenance included replacing “components and systems assessed against the anticipated lifecycle” that may be required over the next 10 years
It stated: “Police Scotland are now developing our estate investment programme for the next three to five years, which will build upon the survey’s guidance.
“This will be a significant investment programme which will span multiple years and will require both capital and revenue investment.”
Mr McArthur said: “Officers and staff do a fantastic job under very tough circumstances in keeping our communities safe but the SNP’s botched centralisation continues to undermine their efforts.”
The Scottish Government merged the country’s eight regional police forces into one national organisation in April 2013, but Mr McArthur said the projected savings from the move had “not been realised”, while problems with the development of the new i6 IT system “continue to deprive frontline policing of resources”.
He said: “That is why Liberal Democrats have proposed extra investment in the police, dropping the VAT bill incurred through the SNP’s centralisation and ending the public sector pay cap.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We are committed to protecting the £1 billion police resource budget in real terms in every year of this parliament, a boost of £100 million by 2021.
“We have also increased the capital budget in real terms in 2017-18 and provided a further £61 million to support the delivery of Policing 2026, the 10-year strategy to ensure Police Scotland is equipped to tackle new and emerging threats.
“We will continue to press UK ministers over the glaring disparity on VAT which sees Police Scotland, unlike all other UK territorial police forces, unable to recover VAT.”