Claims Police Scotland not 'fit for purpose' as £5.5m taxpayers' money spent on compensation claims

A Lothian MSP has claimed Police Scotland is ‘not fit for purpose’ as figures reveal compensation payouts will top £5.5 million this year – more than double the amount paid out in 2021.

Millions in taxpayers money will be spent by the end of 2022, the highest amount in at least the past six years as damning figures reveal the scale of claims made against the police by members of the public.

Payouts from Public Liability Claims alone have risen to £1.7million – more than triple the amount paid out for this type of claim last year, according to a freedom of information request.

A former Edinburgh firearms officer was among numerous high-profile claims paid out by Police Scotland in the last year. Rhona Malone, who was based at Fettes, was found by a tribunal to have been victimised by a ‘boys’ club’ in Edinburgh Firearms Unit. She was paid out nearly £1 million.

Rhona Malone loved her job as a Police Scotland officer

Ms Malone said she had been through an “excruciating and torturous few years”, but she hoped her experience of winning a victimisation claim against the force at an employment tribunal would “benefit many women now and in the future”.

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The force was ordered to make a payment of more than £1 million to the family of Lamara Bell who was left stranded by the roadside on the M9 after police failed to respond to a callout. Employer liability claims are also behind the rise with more than £2 million alone paid out in 2022.

The police complaints system was set up by the SNP Government as part of its Police Scotland reforms. Its failings were exposed in a report by former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini. Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “The doubling of compensation pay-outs within Police Scotland is definitely of real concern and shows that the current system is not fit for purpose.

Lamara Bell who was found in a crashed car that had gone off the M9 near Stirling.

“Decisions made by SNP Ministers have led to a Police force which does not function as efficiently as it did before the SNP came to government in Scotland. It is clear that significant changes are needed within Police Scotland so that these compensation payments are not required and the organisation functions more effectively.”

Russell Findlay MSP has written to Police Scotland’s Chief Constable to clarify whether the police budget will suffer as a result of the rise in compensation payouts. The Scottish Conservative Shadow Minister for community safety said: “The huge rise in police compensation payouts will come as a shock to the public.

“At a time when police budgets are under severe strain, the force simply cannot afford costly payouts due to large compensation claims. Changes are needed from within the police and they are making progress on that but the SNP need to start working to fix the broken system too.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Our officers and staff work in challenging circumstances across the country to keep communities safe and improve the lives of the public.Compensation payments are dealt with on a case by case basis with a view to securing best value for the public purse. A significant proportion of the increase in compensation payments this year can be attributed to a few cases relating to incidents from previous years.”