The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)

Police Scotland cannot reclaim £76.5m VAT

Only UK force unable to do so as it is controlled by the Scottish Government

- Stewart alexander

Scotland’s single police force has paid £76.5 million in VAT in the three years it has existed and will be unable to claim it back.

Police Scotland, which was formed in 2013 after the amalgamati­on of Scotland’s regional forces, is the only UK force unable to reclaim the tax.

Chief Constable Phil Gormley revealed the figure in a letter to the Commons Home Affairs Committee.

Local police and fire services were exempt from VAT but this ended with the creation of national bodies in 2013.

Audit Scotland warned in December of last year the force was facing a funding gap of £85 million by 2018.

Westminste­r’s Home Affairs Committee recently requested informatio­n from Police Scotland about its work training police forces of foreign government­s.

Chief Constable Gormley said: “Finally you ask, in reference to a question posed by Mr McDonald (SNP MP Stuart McDonald), how much VAT Police Scotland is unable to reclaim, or has paid.

“Since Police Scotland was formed in April 2013 we have paid £76.5m in VAT and we remain the only police organisati­on in the United Kingdom to pay VAT.”

Policing and fire services in Scotland were previously controlled by local councils which can claim back VAT.

The new national forces are controlled by the Scottish Government and cannot claim back the VAT, something which the Scottish Government was aware of when piloting its single forces Bill through Holyrood.

It has since lobbied Westminste­r for a re-introducti­on of the VAT exemption, without success.

The Scottish Police Authority, which oversees the national force, heard in October of last year Police Scotland was facing a £25m budget overspend by the end of the financial year.

The then Finance Minister John Swinney announced an extra £55m in funding for Police Scotland in his draft budget.

The annual VAT bill for the single Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is estimated to be about £10m.

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