Police chiefs have asked SNP ministers to consider cutting the number of uniformed officers to ease the financial pressure on the force.
They say that the government’s commitment to an extra 1,000 officers on the beat should be reconsidered, claiming that the requirement is damaging operations.
The force is struggling to find additional savings of £11 million this year. It must cut a total of £1.1 billion from its spending by 2026 to meet targets set by the government.
The Association of Scottish Police Superintendents said that Police Scotland’s capacity for further belt-tightening was nearly exhausted after mergers of call centres and cuts to back-office staff.
Martin Fotheringham, the vice-president, said that police numbers should be allowed to fall to ease pressure on support functions and to prevent uniformed officers from filling roles traditionally taken by support staff.
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He said: “There is clearly some significant budget pressure and challenges ahead. We would like to see an intelligent conversation to consider all of the options. Included within that would absolutely be whether the lock-in on 1,000 additional officers remains the right policy, or whether it’s time to review that and look at more of a mixed staffing model.
“That’s not on the table at the moment because of the manifesto commitment. The next chief constable may want to have that conversation as well.
“The risk is that if you get rid of a load of police staff, a lot of those jobs still need to be done, so you end up with more and more officers performing police staff roles.”
The Times understands that the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has commissioned research into staff levels amid concern about the impact on the budget of the 1,000-officer commitment.
Last week George Graham, the former chief constable of the Northern Constabulary who was appointed to the board of the SPA in May, said that the organisation would “need to look closely” at whether the police numbers target could be sustained. He added: “In the next few years I think we’re going to have to have a look at that number if we’re going to be able to balance budgets.”
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Sir Stephen House, the chief constable of Scotland, who has announced his decision to step down from his role ten months early amid mounting criticism of his force, said that “politically unacceptable” options would need to be considered to continue achieving budget savings.
Launching a review of policing yesterday, Graeme Pearson, Scottish Labour’s justice spokesman, called on Michael Matheson, the justice secretary, to use a parliamentary statement on Thursday to apologise for the breakdown of public confidence in the police.
Mr Pearson said: “Scotland’s once Continued on page 4, column 4
world-class reputation for policing was dragged through the mud this summer. We can never allow that to happen again.
“Michael Matheson has spent the summer Awol and used the chief constable as a human shield to deflect criticism from decisions that his own government has made.”
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He also called on the government to reconsider its 1,000 uniformed officers target, claiming: “It is naked grandstanding to continue to claim 1,000 additional constables whilst ignoring the more than 2,000 support staff made redundant in the same time.
“A police authority along with its chief constable are the right means for deciding resources both human and otherwise.”
An action plan setting out how Police Scotland aims to close its budget gap will be presented to the SPA’s finance committee later this month.
A spokeswoman for the SPA said: “Further work is now being carried out on the savings opportunities for the 2015/16 year to ensure all options are appropriately exhausted.
“As was discussed at some length at the SPA public meeting last week, the output of this exercise will be considered at the forthcoming finance committee meeting to be held at the end of September.”
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A Scottish government spokeswoman defended its target on police numbers, saying it had helped to deliver a 40-year low in recorded crime and stood in “stark contrast” to the loss of 16,000 uniformed officers in England and Wales.