Labour Justice Debate 17th May 2012

There is widespread concern that the SNP’s cuts to police staff are leading to police officers being taken off the beat to complete back office jobs.

The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and trade unions have estimated that around 1,000 staff posts have been cut by the SNP to date.

ACPOS has also warned that the only way to meet the savings for a single Scottish police force thousands more will have to be cut.

Despite these warnings, the SNP government rejected the party’s calls to conduct such a study during a Scottish Labour debate on the issue.

Scottish Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, Lewis Macdonald MSP, said:

“The Justice Secretary seems to be in denial about the impact his deep cuts to police staff are having.

“Modern mixed teams of officers and staff are fast disappearing in the face of the political imperative of delivering huge cuts, in a very short period of time.

“The Justice Secretary admitted last week that his support for a single police force was ultimately down to financial pressures. That must be what lies behind his U-turn on the issue of civilian staff in the police service: once a desirable commodity, now an expendable luxury.

“By rejecting our positive offer for a national audit, the SNP government is denying Scotland real scrutiny of the single police force and undermining confidence in the process.

“If the Justice Secretary had nothing to hide, then he should have nothing to fear from an independent study that clearly assesses the impact SNP cuts are having on the delivery of policing.

“Kenny MacAskill is becoming increasingly isolated and his refusal to hold an independent audit is an admission that his deep cuts to police staff are damaging policing in Scotland.

“Ministers are asking for a good deal of power over the police service to be concentrated in their hands. If they want to keep public trust in the creation of a single police service, they must deliver transparency in return.”

police_matters_may_2012 (1)

“Scottish Labour supports moves towards a single police force, but that must not mean frontline police officers being taken off the beat to cover the duties of the police staff that are being cut by the SNP government.

“The reform of our police service offers a once in a generation opportunity to make our police more local and more accountable than ever before, the SNP cannot afford to squander that potential.

“Unless the SNP government changes course and stop sacking so many police staff they risk taking policing in Scotland back to the 1970s.

“There is little point in maintaining police numbers, if police officers are not out on the beat protecting communities.

“Cutting police support staff is a false economy and cheats communities out of the improved service they have been promised.

“Police staff must be protected from arbitrary SNP government cuts that seem driven solely by the need to meet artificial savings targets, not keep our communities safe.”

2510_001

Plans to maintain the Scottish Government’s target of 1,000 extra police officers will lead to large scale civilian cuts and turn the policing clock back decades, warns UNISON.

The union’s warning follows today’s (Wednesday) publication of the Justice Committee’s stage 1 report on the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Bill.

While UNISON welcomes the committee’s decision to seek clarification on the impact of police staff redundancies, UNISON says the sheer magnitude of cuts will lead to an inefficient and outdated police service.

Dave Watson, UNISON’s Scottish Organiser, said:

“The committee needs to look beyond the small print and see how the Government’s targets of recruiting an extra 1,000 police officers will decimate Scottish policing. The committee can be assured that if police targets are maintained, then large scale civilian cuts will follow, as sure as night follows day.

“The projected savings from the move to a single police force will be primarily achieved by reducing the number of police staffs by thousands. This is nothing but a recipe for service chaos and makes no economic sense, as police officers are taken off the streets to carry out the roles of civilian staff – jobs they are not trained to do and at a greater cost to the taxpayer.”

The report also highlighted the committee’s concerns about the loss of VAT (known as s33 status) that would result if the single fire and police services are established as proposed by the Scottish Government.

Mr Watson continued:

“The committee is rightly concerned about the loss of VAT exemption which will cost at least £30m. This means Scottish taxpayers will have to foot an additional bill of around £26m for the police and between £4m and £10m for the fire and rescue service. 

“If the new national forces were organised on the basis of local authorities, not only would this strengthen local democratic accountability, but it would retain s33 status and maintain the exemption to the taxpayer.”