£115m overtime bill follows five years of failure at Police Scotland
Now crisis-hit force faces plummeting morale
SCOTS police chiefs have been forced to spend more than £115million on overtime at the crisis-hit force amid growing fears over plummeting morale.
New figures indicate the shocking extent to which officers and senior staff have been called in to work additional hours in an attempt to cover high-profile incidents, events and daily policing.
A report shows that £115.43million has been spent on overtime since the formation of Police Scotland on April 1, 2013.
The figures, which came from freedom of information requests, come despite the organisation facing a £35million funding black hole.
Police bosses are also facing calls to carry out a force-wide survey to measure staff wellbeing and opinion on several topics, including whether or not officers feel they have the required resources to carry out their jobs.
The force has been criticised over fears of plummeting morale and soaring stress levels, while chiefs have also been forced to deal with a series of internal investigations and the resignation of chief constable Phil Gormley.
As policing bosses yesterday marked the five-year anniversary of the formation of the single force, they faced questions on the millions being spent on overtime.
The figures show that £103.8million was spent on officers, while the remaining £11.6million was on civilian staff hours.
Last year alone, £16.3million was spent on overtime.
Scottish Lib Dem justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: ‘Police Data: Mobile phones officers and staff work around the clock to keep us safe.
‘These figures show the enormous overtime bill racked up since day one of Police Scotland.
‘We know that officers and staff often feel up against it. We need a balanced workforce with fair and safe working conditions and the tools they need to do the job.’
Mr McArthur has called for a repeat of the 2015 policing survey which found soaring levels of stress within the force with plummeting morale.
The poll found only 8 per cent of officers thought the force was interested in their wellbeing, while less than a quarter felt they had the resources to do their jobs.
Only 17 per cent said they would recommend Police Scotland or the Scottish Police Authority as a good place to work.
Mr McArthur said: ‘The survey showed they felt the service and its resources were stretched. That is why Scottish Liberal Democrats have called for a repeat of that
‘Officers feel up against it’
survey to find out what has, or hasn’t, improved.’
It was reported at the weekend that Police Scotland’s performance is to be investigated by a Holyrood committee as reports continue to expose issues within the force. Earlier this year the Scottish Daily Mail revealed that hundreds of probationary police officers were quitting before completing their training.
Last week the SPA revealed that the number of officers in Scotland was to be axed by 100, raising concerns over funding of the force.
This comes as new figures in a Sunday newspaper show police bosses spent £18million on hiring a host of consultants and outside contractors in the last financial year.
This includes an interim director of people and development who was paid £1,000 a day.
Mr McArthur added: ‘Just this week the SPA draft budget revealed the number of officers in Scotland is set to fall by 100.
‘It’s clear that ministers have ditched the 1,000 extra police officers policy they boasted about for years but don’t have the courage to tell anyone.’
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Overtime is an essential element of any policing service, but we recognise the important of working within controlled budgets.
‘As such resourcing is regularly monitored to ensure overtime is kept to a minimum.
‘In the event of a major incident, then our first priority is, and always will be, public safety, and we will do what is required to provide the appropriate number of officers to respond.’
Meanwhile, MSPs have launched an inquiry into the centralisation of the police and fire services, five years after they were formed.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Overtime has been reducing every year since Police Scotland was formed.
‘Deployment of resources is an operational matter for the Chief Constable.
‘We expect Police Scotland to have robust policies to support staff and they have targeted activities to support wellbeing and occupational health.
‘We have committed to protecting the police resource budget in real terms in every year of this parliament – a boost of £100million by 2021.
‘We have also continued police reform funding for a year, with £31million planned to support the implementation of the Policing 2026 strategy.’