Chamber and committees

I am grateful that you acknowledge the pressures. You mentioned the idea of a cap. There is a cap—there is a cap on all that we do in the sense that we have the block grant, added to by whatever tax that we raise here and other sources of income. Therefore, that cap exists and has always been there. You are right that the question is how to marry things up within those pressures. I have no intention of overseeing a budget for the police force that results in 4,000 officers leaving. Despite press reports to the contrary, we have a very stable workforce in the police in Scotland—much more so than is the case in other parts of the UK—and there is real interest in applying for senior positions in the police force here.

On the point about situations where the police do not turn up for things, that has happened in many communities south of the border. In some communities south of the border, there has been no investigation of burglaries and other crimes for over a year and there is no intention to hold those investigations. We do not intend to oversee such a situation. However, I know from the discussions that I have had with the Scottish Police Authority and the police that they want to ensure that their model of policing is up to date and fit for going forward, rather than always looking back.

It is worth pointing out that the police start from a very strong basis. A police constable in Scotland gets about £5,000 more per year when they start than those elsewhere, and every rank up to assistant chief constable is paid higher in Scotland than elsewhere. We also have some of the lowest-ever recorded levels of crime. Therefore, the police start from a strong position and they do not intend to yield that position.

Based on the discussions that I have had, I think that there will be reprioritisation. Cybercrime is a real challenge, and the police will want to do more on that. There might also be a reconfiguration with regard to how the police want to deal with violence against women and girls. The position will develop over time, but the police will not have that level of fall-off in officer numbers—at least, there will not be a net fall-off of 4,000 officers. We do not intend to see that happen at all.

Yes, I think that it will remain in operation, and no, of course I am not happy when there has been a service failure. Those failures have been well publicised, and I have raised them with both the SPA and the chief constable when they have happened.

However, the contact assessment model that is now used is very effective when it is used properly. That is probably borne out by the fact that in Scotland—I think that I am right in saying—the number of calls that are answered within 10 seconds is around 10 per cent higher than it is elsewhere in the UK. The rate for the proportion of calls that are answered in under 10 seconds currently sits at around 79.9 per cent, in comparison with 68.3 per cent for the rest of the UK. That should not be the only bar, however, and we acknowledge that the rate has to be higher. Nonetheless, the rest of the UK is a useful comparison, because many of the same pressures apply.

We have had the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland assurance review into the contact assessment model for call handling. I do not deny that it identifies issues, but it also identifies a number of real successes. We welcome Police Scotland’s plans to introduce the new digital contact platform, which will help to strengthen both the 101 and 999 services. Once again, I highlight that those are operational matters for the chief constable, and oversight of them is provided by the Scottish Police Authority.

It is not a new idea that you can achieve efficiencies if you build something new according to modern standards and if you do it in the right way, not least because you can also make it much more efficient in terms of the climate change challenge. The proposed prison in the Highlands—the replacement for HMP Inverness—will be our first net zero prison, so yes, of course, we can make efficiencies. For a number of years, we have had a programme of renewing what is, in essence, a Victorian estate. We are going through that process. The business case is developed for each proposition that we have.

That is a very good point. Obviously, members have been talking to the police. The police will tell members about the frustrations that they feel about the time that is tied up in court, sometimes for cases that do not happen.

Neil Rennick can say more about the current pilot in Dundee, Hamilton and Paisley. As the need to address that issue is so urgent, we have said that, at the very earliest point at which we see promising outcomes from that to do with the way that cases are managed, we want to roll those out across Scotland. That is part of the discussions that we have had with the chief constable. It might be worth hearing a bit more about the detail of that from Neil Rennick.

That is the point that we are making in relation to the pilot. The normal course of a pilot would be to conduct it, analyse it, see its impact and benefits and then, if that is the decision, roll it out. We are not doing so in this case because of the pressures that Fulton MacGregor has mentioned.

I hear the same from police officers; they are frustrated at having to spend time sitting in court or in anterooms at the courthouse for cases that are sometimes not even called when they could be doing other police work. The chief constable has made that point to me. The pilot will be rolled out in advance of the longer time period that we normally have for pilots.

On the second point, I think that I have already mentioned a couple of times that closer working between the blue-light services was, apart from anything else, one of the outputs from the Grenfell inquiry. However, it is obviously the case that more can be done there. We are giving active consideration to how we can make that working more efficient in a country of Scotland’s size, not just between the ambulance service and the police but with the fire service.

I am not aware of that happening, but perhaps Donald McGillivray will know.

You asked a question about the UK Government. I am saying that, given the incompetence over which the UK Government has presided, whether it is in tax, inflation or public debt, the opportunity to do things in a different and much more sensible and mature way than, for example, the Kwasi Kwarteng budget is a very valuable option for the people of Scotland. We also want to fulfil our manifesto promise, which was to offer that referendum.

If it is possible to answer without being interrupted, I will try to answer your question. The idea is not honest that anyone can talk sensibly about public services while excluding from consideration the financing for which, currently, we have to rely on the UK Government. We have to acknowledge the main driver. Most other people in the country realise that we have had 12 years of austerity-suppressed budgets for public services, and I do not deny that that has had an impact.

I have mentioned the fact that we are looking at the issue, so that we can alleviate the pressure on the police, through calls going to the right place in the first place. That would reduce the number and volume of calls.

However, despite that, and notwithstanding those pressures, which apply across the UK, Police Scotland is above average.

I acknowledge that, if somebody’s call goes unanswered, that is a failure of service. I am not wishing that away.

My point is that, according to the Home Office, Police Scotland was well above average in July. It answered 79.9 per cent of calls in less than 10 seconds. I do not use the word “swimmingly”, but that is an example, notwithstanding the pressures, of Police Scotland performing better than average.

In addition, to get under some of the issues in your point, Police Scotland, as I have said before, has been the first point of call for many things that are not its responsibility. That is reflected in those calls. We have looked at the nature of the calls. Some should be directed towards other services, and we are trying to ensure that that can be done. That goes back to my previous point about an increase in the necessary reform in call handling and better liaison between the police, the other blue-light services and other services. If they can alleviate call pressure by ensuring that calls are directed correctly in the first place, that will help to improve a performance that is already above average, such that we can drive out any failure to answer calls.

It is better than average, just now. It has to be better, and work to make it better is continuing.

Discussions with Cabinet colleagues about public services often centre on the fact that, after 12 years of austerity, more money should be invested in public services. I acknowledge that. We should invest more money in public services. However, almost uniquely, the UK Government has decided on a programme of austerity, which has lasted for 12 years.