Edinburgh police: 'Give us our fair share of officers' MSP demands

Edinburgh ‘more than 100 officers short’ of proper complement

The Scottish Government has been accused of failing to provide Edinburgh with enough police officers to meet its needs.

Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs told the Scottish Parliament the Capital was estimated to have more than 100 fewer officers than it should have in terms of its population. And he asked Justice Secretary Keith Brown to give Edinburgh its “fair share”. Mr Briggs said Scottish Government figures show that, in the third quarter of 2022, the number of police officers in Scotland was at its lowest level in 14 years.

Speaking in the Holyrood chamber, he asked: “Does the cabinet secretary recognise the situation in the Capital, which has some of the lowest police levels that we have ever had? Will Edinburgh receive its fair share of police resourcing, to help to turn the situation around?”

Edinburgh is more than 100 officers short of its "fair share" of police resources, according to Lothian MSP Miles Briggs. Picture: John Devlin.

Mr Brown said that local deployment was a matter for the chief constable, but Scotland’s single police force allowed local divisions across the country to access specialist expertise and resources at regional and national levels, depending on demand. He said: “We have ensured that not just Edinburgh but the entire nation has received the appropriate level of resourcing from Police Scotland – indeed, above the levels that the Conservative Party has demanded in the past. Mr Brown added that Scotland had “far more” police officers per capita than elsewhere in the UK and police officers here were better paid than elsewhere.

Mr Briggs said afterwards: “Under the SNP the number of police officers in Scotland is at its lowest level in 14 years. The numbers in Edinburgh are now recognised as being not sufficient for the demand in the Capital and estimated to be over 100 fewer than Edinburgh’s population share should have. I raised the need for the Capital to receive our fair share of police resources with the cabinet secretary for justice. SNP-Green ministers simply aren’t providing Edinburgh Police, with all the additional pressures the Capital faces, with the police resources we need. It’s time SNP-Green ministers properly supported local policing efforts which is why I back Scottish Conservative proposals for a Local Policing Act to guarantee our police in the Capital will have the budgets they need and that local people are put at the heart of decision-making.”

Official figures for the third quarter of 2022 showed that as of September 30, the core complement of Police Scotland’s Edinburgh City division numbered 1,107 officers, which included community policing, response policing and divisional road policing teams.