Spotlight will fall on SNP's mismanagement if Police Scotland forced to cut 1,000 officers
Police Scotland should not have to pay the price of the SNP’s questionable spending decisions and over-budget projects
Chief Constable Jo Farrell’s warning that Police Scotland may have to lose nearly 1,000 officers unless the force receives an extra £105 million must be taken seriously. Speaking to the Scottish Parliament’s criminal justice committee, Farrell stated bluntly: “A flat-cash funding allocation for 2026/27 cannot be delivered.”
There are currently some 16,400 officers but, without a funding increase, this would need to drop to less than 15,500 by 2027. In 2019, Police Scotland had 17,250 officers. Farrell’s remarks come at a time when the police have stopped investigating some ‘minor’ crimes, assaults on officers are increasing and the demands on the force are rising.
With speculation about a 2p rise in UK income tax that could reduce Scottish Government funding by £1 billion, ministers may not welcome Farrell’s pitch. But the police must be given the tools to do their vital job of protecting the lives and livelihoods of the people of Scotland.
Any failure to do so would only cast yet more light on the SNP’s questionable spending decisions and their mismanagement of a string of vastly over-budget projects.
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