Police Scotland cuts: 'Crime will increase, public safety will be put at risk'

Justice organisations warn of impact of funding reductions

Cuts to police budgets will lead to an increase in crime and threaten public safety, unions have claimed.

And the fire service, the courts and other justice organisations have also warned of serious consequences from cutbacks on their spending.

In submissions to the Scottish Parliament’s criminal justice committee, they spelled out what the planned reductions in funding for their work will mean.

Police Scotland said up to 4,500 jobs could be axed to meet rising wage bills if the real-terms cuts go ahead. The force already has its lowest number of full-time officers since it was set up in 2013, with a total of 16,610 at the end of June. And it warned there could be “a fundamental reduction in Scottish policing's capacity to respond to the needs of the public we serve”.

The Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said: “If the proposals come to fruition, they will leave a severely hollowed out police service, under greater pressure than ever before, delivering sub-standard policing services to the communities.

"Crime will increase, victims will be let down, community confidence in the police will diminish exponentially and the effectiveness of an already overburdened criminal justice system will leave many offenders unlikely to face any form of sanction.”

Unison, which represents police staff, said the Police Scotland figures were deeply alarming. The force had already seen more than 2,600 jobs lost. "To threaten to cut thousands more will completely decimate the service and pose a huge risk to public safety.”

Up to 4,500 jobs could be axed in Police Scotland, the force has warned.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said cuts to its funding would mean it faced "hard choices”, including a possible reduction in staffing through retirements and not filling vacancies. Its ability to deal with climate change challenges like wildfires and flooding, would be affected and some fire stations might have to close. It warned: "Availability within a particular community cannot be guaranteed to the same levels as they are today."

And the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service said budget reductions would put at risk its efforts to clear the backlog of cases resulting from the Covid pandemic. It would need to consider cutting back the number of court sitting days, court closures and a smaller workforce. The budget pressures might also delay plans to create a new specialist court to deal with sexual offences cases, it warned.

The Scottish Government said it did all it could within its fixed budgets and limited fiscal powers, but the UK Government retained many key financial and economic powers and should use them to ensure Scotland received the funding it needed to support public services in these difficult times. A spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government will work with justice organisations, including Police Scotland, to develop and co-ordinate their delivery plans in response to the high-level indicative spending review allocations."

A spokesperson for the UK Government said it had provided the Scottish Government with a record £41 billion per year for the next three years. “As a result, the Scottish government is receiving around £126 per person for every £100 per person of equivalent UK government spending in England over the next three years.”