Brown: ‘I do not want to lose 4,000 officers’
The Justice Secretary has said he has “no intention” of overseeing a budget that sees 4,000 police officers leaving the force, or lockdown-type restrictions returning to prisons.
Keith Brown told MSPS at Holyrood’s criminal justice committee that while the budget is under pressure due to inflation, he will work to ensure such cuts and restrictions do not happen.
The Scottish Government proposed a flat cash settlement for the justice sector in its resource spending review published earlier this year – meaning funding would fail to keep pace with inflation.
At earlier meetings, the committee heard from Police Scotland officials who warned that the force may have to pull back from key services such as community policing as it eyes budget cuts, with forecasts expecting around 4,400 officer and staff jobs could go over four years.
And the chief inspector of prisons in Scotland warned there is a risk the “flat cash” settlement could spark disturbances and said it would reduce the overall budget for prisons “hugely”.
At yesterday’s committee meeting, Mr Brown said that he has “no intention of overseeing a budget for the police force that results in 4,000 officers leaving the police force”.
However,hesaidthatwith inflation at 10 per cent and rising, the budget that the Scottish Government has forthisyeariswortharound £1.7 billion less than when it was announced in December when inflation was around 4 per cent.
Mr Brown added: “We have to live within that budget whatever else is said to make sure those things don’t happen and that’s my intention.”