Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 10 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government regarding the budget for Police Scotland, whether it will provide information on what it would have been if it had it kept up with inflation measured (a) using Consumer Price Index (b) by Retail Price Index, in each year since the creation of Police Scotland.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of inflation faced by consumers, and is not an appropriate comparison for the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) budget. Retail Price Index (RPI) is not an Accredited Official Statistic, and the Office for Statistics Regulation advises against its use as a measure of inflation. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflator is the broadest measure of economy-wide inflation, and is the standard measure when considering real terms government spending.
Using the GDP deflator, the 2026-27 SPA Budget has increased in real terms compared to the opening 2025-26 budget. We will invest record funding of over £1.7 billion in policing in 2026-27, a total budget increase of £81.5 million or 5% compared to the published 2025-26 Autumn Budget Revision (ABR) budget. It is for the SPA, working with the Chief Constable, to determine how to allocate this budget to meet policing priorities.