A QUARTER OF POLICE OFFICERS FACE AXE
Chief Constable’s astonishing warning to Sturgeon over force funding crisis:
SCOTLAND’S Chief Constable has issued a stark warning to the SNP Government that he will have to cut a quarter of his force if Ministers do not boost funding.
Iain Livingstone will outline a nightmare scenario to MSPs this week which shows up to 4,500 jobs could go to meet rising wage bills if real-term cuts to the justice budget go ahead. Police Scotland’s most senior officer says the implications for the public are so significant they will affect all aspects of policing north of the Border, from protecting communities to managing major events and
demonstrations. Opposition MSPs claim the ‘dire’ picture painted by the Chief Constable will benefit criminals while posing a threat to public safety at a time of rising violent crime.
Police Scotland already has its lowest number of full-time officers – 16,610 at the end of June – since the creation of the single national force in 2013.
Now Mr Livingstone claims he could be forced to make further savings of up to £300 million by slashing jobs over the next few years if a government plan for a ‘flat-cash settlement’ goes ahead.
Mr Livingstone and Martyn Evans, chairman of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), have prepared a joint statement for MSPs who will meet at Holyrood’s criminal justice committee on Wednesday, voicing concerns at the ‘delivery implications’ for the force.
They say the outlook is ‘extremely challenging and concerning’ and go on to warn that officer numbers could be cut by 4,500 if the force has to continue paying for 5 per cent wage rises up to 2026-27,
‘It beggars belief that thousands could be lost’
without annual increases in the budget from the Scottish Government.
Their submission states: ‘Our initial analysis shows that for policing in Scotland to operate within a flat-cash funding allocation, savings of between £200 million and £300 million are required over the period, an average of between £50 million and £75 million per annum, in order to accommodate pay awards and absorb non-pay inflationary pressure.
‘Such cuts would follow significant reform which has already enabled £200 million to be removed from the annual cost base of policing in Scotland.
‘This has been achieved through significant reductions in chief officer, senior officer and staff numbers, as well as efficiencies and improved working practices.’
They say salaries total 86 per cent of policing in Scotland’s revenue budget and further significant cost reductions can only be delivered through a pay freeze or by funding cost of living pay awards by reducing the size of the workforce.
If this year’s 5 per cent pay award were to be repeated up to 2026-27, they warn that an extra £222 million would need to be found – the equivalent of an average reduction in headcount of 4,500, based on current salaries.
Yesterday, Scottish Conservative community safety spokesman Russell
Findlay said: ‘With Scotland’s thin blue line already at breaking point, these warnings are dire.
‘Criminals will benefit while our communities will be less safe at a time of rising violent crime. Police officers are already running on empty so it beggars belief that thousands could be lost due to these savage SNP cuts.’
The Scottish Government’s Resource Spending Review (RSR), published in May, indicated that the SPA and Police Scotland should plan for a flat-cash settlement until 2026-27 – with Kate Forbes, the Finance Secretary, stressing that the public sector would need to ‘reshape and refocus’ in the coming years.
Police Scotland insists it has already ‘progressed much of the reform now being asked of the public sector as a whole’. It says that in doing so it has ‘returned £200 million annually to the public purse’.
But Mr Livingstone and Mr Evans add in their submission: ‘Should funding allocations follow the parameters of the RSR, this would mean a fundamental reduction in Scottish policing’s capacity and capability to respond to the needs of the public we serve.
‘The implications for community policing, operational effectiveness, our ability to police major events and demonstrations fairly and safely and to protect people from existing and emerging threats are significant.’
Justice Secretary Keith Brown said: ‘We have increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17. We will work with justice organisations including Police Scotland and the SPA to develop and co-ordinate their delivery plans in response to the high-level Spending Review allocations.’