Deal is agreed after row over policing costs for COP26 climate conference

WESTMINSTER is prepared to pay for policing this year’s UN climate conference in Glasgow after a bitter row with SNP ministers, the police watchdog has claimed.

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) said the Scottish and UK governments were now in the final stages of their negotiations over the cost of security at COP26.

The SPA had estimated the bill for policing the enormous two-week event in November could be as high as £250m, a figure hotly disputed by the UK Government.

Nicola Sturgeon last month demanded the UK Government pay the security and all other costs of staging the internationally important gathering “in full”.

It led to a ferocious row with the UK Government, and a second scrap over the Scottish Government using the Glasgow Science Centre in COP26 as a promotional hub.

With the UK Government confirming an alternative venue had been arranged in London if

Glasgow proved impossible, Ms Sturgeon then called for a “reset” in the relationship.

She said the two administrations would doubtless continue arguing over many things, but the summit’s work on tackling climate change was too important for squabbling.

Held at the SEC over 12 days in November, COP26 is expected to draw 90,000 attendees in total, including around 190 world leaders and 3000 members of the media.

There is also the potential for large scale protests by activists.

Lynn Brown, the acting chief executive of the SPA, which oversees Police Scotland, said negotiations were now in their final phase for the UK government to pick up the policing bill.

She told the SPA board this would be done through a mixture of funding via the Scottish Consolidated Fund, drafting in reinforcements from other forces across the country and an accommodation payment from the Foreign Office.

She said: “It hasn’t been specifically agreed but that’s highly likely to be what we’re doing through mutual aid. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office have also been very helpful on accommodation, they will deal with that, and that takes out another significant amount of money, about £28-£30m.

“We’re trying to reduce the risk [attached to] the money coming to Scotland but we’re hoping to bottom that out in the next few weeks.”

A past SPA report claimed costs could be as high as £250m, although this was a “worst-case scenario”.

The value of the reinforcements sent to Scotland for the summit, when almost 200 world leaders are expected in the city, will be around £113m based on current estimates.

In terms of cash sent to the Scottish Government via the Scottish Consolidated Fund - the main funding avenue at Holyrood, which receives an annual grant from Westminster - responsibility for how the money is spent will lie with the Scottish Government and with Ms Brown, who will be the accountable officer for the fund.