Justice Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Official Report 647KB pdf

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Justice Sub-Committee on Policing (Report Back)

Item 3 is feedback from the meeting of the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing that took place on 30 May. After we have heard from John Finnie, there will an opportunity for members to make brief comments and ask brief questions. I refer members to paper 4, which is a note from the clerk.

As you said, convener, the committee papers include a feedback note on the sub-committee’s most recent meeting, on 30 May, when, as part of our pre-budget scrutiny of the 2020-21 draft budget, we took evidence from the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, the Scottish Police Federation and the police staff branch of Unison Scotland on the capital funding for Police Scotland. The sub-committee heard that the capital budget allocation for Police Scotland is inadequate and that the lack of resources is impacting on the ability of police officers and staff to provide an efficient service. Witnesses said that sub-optimal conditions and equipment are impacting on police efficiency and that a longer-term capital investment programme is required. The capital budget allocation for Police Scotland is low in comparison with those for other police services across the United Kingdom. Unison described the 2019-20 capital settlement for the force as a “sticking plaster”.

The sub-committee heard that, although communication with the unions by senior force management and the Scottish Police Authority has improved, there has been no meaningful pre-budget engagement with the unions by force management and the SPA. The Scottish Police Federation was critical of the level of suitable engagement with unions on the policing 2026 strategy, which is the 10-year plan to transform the force. There was a strong feeling that the SPA needs to make a more robust case to the Scottish Government for the funds that Police Scotland needs if it is to overhaul its information and communications technology systems and deal with the major backlog of maintenance and replacement of buildings, fleet and equipment.

The sub-committee was told that Police Scotland is carrying out a health and safety survey across its estate—that is in addition to the workplace inspections that the staff associations undertake—to identify maintenance priorities and assess working conditions for officers and police staff. The sub-committee requested that we and the police staff unions receive a copy of the information when it is available.

The next meeting of the sub-committee will be on Thursday 13 June, when we will take evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Humza Yousaf, on the Scottish Government’s response to the sub-committee’s “Report on Police Scotland’s proposal to introduce the use of digital device triage systems (cyber kiosks)”. That will be the final meeting of the sub-committee before the summer recess.

Thank you very much. Do members have any comments or questions?

As John Finnie said, the meeting was helpful and revealing. I think that all members understand that budgets are tight and that Police Scotland will not be the only organisation that comes forward with claims that more money is required. However, the stand-out take-away from the session for me was the suggestion that the SPA is not being robust enough in setting out the effect that an insufficient capital budget is having on front-line policing and policing generally. We will need to keep an eye on the situation as we go into the budget process.

I am not a member of the sub-committee, and I was hugely concerned by what I read in the report. I recognise the point that Liam McArthur makes about the SPA. Can members help me out on where the issue goes from here? There are clearly serious concerns. How does the sub-committee, or whoever is tasked with this, follow up on the matter to make sure that something changes?

We are aware that the Scottish Police Authority pays particular attention to the sub-committee’s work, and, as I said in my report, we will hear from the Cabinet Secretary for Justice next week, when we will put those points to him very strongly. Indeed, I presume that that will strengthen his hand in negotiations with the finance secretary when the budget decisions are made. We will pursue the issue, and next week’s meeting will be a matter of public record, of course.

I concur that the meeting was very concerning, to say the least. The committee was left in no doubt that the inadequacy of resources, particularly in relation to estates and vehicle fleet management, is affecting the efficiency of the police. There was a concerning comment about lack of transparency in the context of the SPA’s highlighting the full extent of the problem, which raises health and safety issues. It was frustrating and disappointing that all stakeholders said that there is still a lack of meaningful engagement with the SPA in the pre-budget process.

I concur with you, convener. I must correct myself for Mr Kerr’s benefit—we will not be speaking to the cabinet secretary about the matter on 13 June; I think that we will do that after the recess. However, the cabinet secretary will have had sight of the Official Report of the sub-committee’s previous meeting.

As there are no more comments, that brings us to the end of today’s meeting. Our next meeting will be on 11 June, when we will continue our consideration of a statutory instrument in relation to the Scottish Government’s plans for a presumption against short sentences. We will also continue to take evidence for our inquiry into secure care for children and young people in Scotland.

Meeting closed at 12:25.