The Scottish Government has vowed there will be no cut in police numbers despite Scotland’s top officer claiming job losses are unavoidable.
Stephen House, chief constable of the national police force which comes into effect on April 1, has said reducing officer numbers will be necessary if the new body, called Police Scotland, is to meet its budget target.
However, this directly contradicts the SNP’s pre-2007 pledge to increase officer numbers by 1,000 a promise the Scottish Government claims still stands.
Police Scotland has to reduce its budget by £190 million over the next two years. Merging Scotland’s eight forces into one is expected to save taxpayers around £1.4 billion over 15 years.
There are 17,234 officers in Scotland and they account for around 70% of Police Scotland’s budget.
“I cannot see how we will get £190m savings with 17,234 officers into our current budget,” Mr House said.
He also claimed the Scottish Government’s promise to maintain the extra 1,000 officers could be scrapped after the 2014 independence referendum, adding that Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is aware of the financial pressures facing the new force.
“Kenny MacAskill can count,” he said. “He is well aware of the difficulties and issues. But this budget comes out the other side of the referendum, so who knows what will happen.
“It’s absolutely possible to meet the budget it just depends what the constraints are. I don’t think personally it will be possible unless we’re allowed to reduce the number of police officers.”
Mr House also said some of the police estate was under review and some stations could close as a result, although he claimed administration and “back office” buildings would be the focus of any closures.
Earlier this week Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick revealed that police across Scotland would share pooled resources for high-profile investigations, or incidents that require additional manpower, but did not say whether officer numbers in Tayside would be directly affected by any cuts.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said the pledge to maintain officer numbers has not been abandoned.
“Chief Constable Stephen House has confirmed that there are no plans to close police stations and it would be wrong to suggest otherwise,” she said.
“This Government, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and the police service are all committed to maintaining the 1,000 extra officers we have delivered since 2007. The latest statistics show record numbers of police in communities, while recorded crime is at its lowest level for 37 years. In contrast, police numbers in England and Wales are at their lowest level for 11 years.”
Unison, which represents the police’s civilian support staff, claims police officers are being artificially maintained. They claim uniformed officers are being given back-room roles previously occupied by civilian staff, who earn thousands less per year.
However, the Scottish Government said support staff are not being driven from their jobs. A spokeswoman said: “The SPA is committed to our pledge of no compulsory redundancies among police support staff. Any reductions are anticipated to be delivered through not replacing people who leave, retirements and through voluntary exit schemes, achieving estimated savings of almost £40m a year.
“Any voluntary redundancies and early retirements will be balanced with ensuring the service retains the right skills and expertise to provide professional support for Scottish policing.”