Warning over possible cuts to police officer numbers

The number of police officers in Scotland could be cut next year, Chief Constable Iain Livingstone has told MSPs.

Mr Livingstone said reducing numbers this year would be “imprudent” given the “unprecedented demand” facing the force.

However, Scotland’s most senior police officer said a drop in officer numbers in future could be considered.

Mr Livingstone told Holyrood’s public audit committee the force would still have a deficit to contend with in the upcoming financial year despite the extra money from Scottish ministers.

The chief constable added: “We still don’t truly know the consequences of the exit from the European Union”, with the UK’s Brexit transition period due to conclude at the end of this year.

After this he said the force “can start, if necessary and if appropriate, to reduce the number of police officers so we have got the right mix and through that achieve the financial sustainability that we all seek”.

Police Scotland currently has 17,234 officers and a draft plan to work out how many officers the force will need in the future.

Its much delayed workforce plan, due to be published later this year, is designed to ensure the force’s resources match modern law enforcement requirements in areas such as technology and financial crime.

David Crichton, vice-chairman of watchdog body the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), said: “The delay in preparing a workforce plan is unacceptable – there is no sugar-coating of that.”

Mr Crichton stressed there was “insufficient funding” in the police budget to “fully fund 17,234 officers”, giving rise to the force’s continuing deficit.

He added: “Unless and until we have a better understanding of the future demands on policing, the areas for productivity improvement, the expected costs of policing and the right skills mix, that is the sort of thing a workforce plan will produce.

“It actually makes it very difficult without that.”

Ms Deacon claimed her concerns, and those raised by Audit Scotland, were not being properly addressed.

She said: “I think that government and the SPA both have been overly reassuring and I think really quite disingenuous about the extent of some of the issues and the lack of clarity in the system.

“And I think it did speak volumes that there was so little response to the very considered and rounded view that the auditor general expressed on this.”