By Lucy Ashton
Police Scotland is becoming “irrelevant” to the public due to budget constraints and a recruitment freeze, it has been claimed. The current situation has also “had an impact on officers” and resulted in a fall in detection rate, according to the chairman of the Scottish Police Federation.
David Threadgold’s concerns were last night matched by politicians who said communities were being “put at risk” by the strategy. In an interview with justice and home affairs magazine, 1919, he claimed the force was becoming a “reactive service”.
Mr Threadgold said: “I cannot accept that a single executive decision in the last six months has been based on anything other than finance. The welfare of officers has been a secondary consideration and I challenge anyone to produce evidence to the contrary. Recent reporting of ‘success’ in reducing a projected overspend by £13 million this financial year could be applauded but at what cost?”
He added: “Should the priority not be ‘low risk – high volume’ to prevent more serious incidents? The basic principles of engagement and proactivity are being lost and as a result we are becoming irrelevant in our communities. That is unacceptable.”
Mr Threadgold continued: “Police Scotland is becoming a reactive service where attendance will only be assured at ‘serious’ incidents. There is a recruitment and retention crisis that creates uncertainly from within, alongside increased levels of physical and mental health absence. The force must recruit, train, and empower officers effectively if we are to achieve success in delivering policing for our communities.”
His comments come as the recent recruitment freeze was cited as having helped police cut the projected overspend on its £1.4 billion budget for 2023-24 from almost £19m to £5m. However, police numbers have reached their lowest level since 2008 with official figures showing the force had 16,363 full-time equivalent officers as of Sunday, December 31, 2023.
“Of particular concern is that the wellbeing of our hard-working police officers has allowed to become an afterthought. To gamble with officer safety is unforgiveable. The Scottish Conservatives are committed to reversing the SNP’s attack on policing with the provision of 1,000 extra officers.”
Meanwhile, the Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Liam McArthur commented: “The SNP has locked policing budgets in a chokehold for years, causing officer numbers to plummet to a record low and putting communities at greater risk. Officers feel unsupported, overwhelmed, and stretched dangerously thin.”
He added: “These pressures simply heighten the possibility of an exodus of experienced and skilled people from the service. With policing bodies now warning of a public safety crisis, it is time for the Scottish Government to listen. Ministers must finally commit to resourcing the service properly and place the welfare of officers and staff at the centre of decisions about the future.”
In the run-up to this year’s Scottish budget, Police Scotland’s Chief Constable, Jo Farrell had called on the Scottish Government to provide the force with an extra £128 million so it could maintain “a visible, accessible and proactive front line”. She has already said the force “must focus intensely” on its core duties, along with “what matters to the people we serve”.
Speaking in February she said: “As Chief Constable, my operational focus is in three areas – first, addressing threat, harm, and risk; second, prevention, problem solving and proactivity; and third, looking after the well-being of officers and staff so they can deliver for the public.”