Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of insulting Scotland’s police officers with a ‘derisory’ pay offer.
Douglas Ross made the claim at FMQs, as he focused on the dispute between the Scottish Police Federation and the SNP Government, which has led to officers taking the strongest industrial action they legally can.
The Scottish Conservative leader said the pay row was proof that policing was no longer a priority for the SNP, and a symptom of a government distracted by its push for another divisive independence referendum.
Douglas Ross said the dispute – which will see officers withdraw their goodwill and change their phone numbers so they can’t be contacted to do overtime – along with the reduction in police numbers risked public safety.
Nicola Sturgeon denied that policing was no longer a priority of her government and said pay negotiations with the SPF were “ongoing”.
The Chief Constable of Police Scotland Sir Iain Livingstone said last week that the Scottish Government had “clearly set out its spending priorities…policing is not among those stated priorities.”
The Scottish Police Federation described the SNP Government’s latest pay offer as “derisory”, adding: “Officers are incandescent at the current pay offer. They are beyond angry at how insulting it is.”
Scottish Conservative Leader Douglas Ross said: “The Chief Constable of Police Scotland has said that policing is not among the SNP Government’s priorities – and he’s right.
“The pay offer – which the Scottish Police Federation describe as ‘derisory’ – is proof of that.
“As a result of it, SPF members will take action from tomorrow. They say, it is the most overt demonstration of action by their members in more than 100 years.
“The SNP Government has taken its eye off the ball here. Resources are being used elsewhere. Police budgets have been cut and officer numbers in Scotland are at their lowest level since 2008.
“We can see the impact on public safety – violent crime has risen to the highest ever level since Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister.
“This is the consequence of a distracted government that doesn’t focus on what really matters. It’s what happens when the country’s top priorities are set aside in pursuit of a divisive independence referendum that the public don’t want.
“It’s time the First Minister focused fully on supporting our police officers and keeping our streets safe from crime, instead of insulting them with a measly pay offer.”
Notes
The number of officers retiring is soaring by 70% which the SPF say is because they’ve had enough. David Page of Police Scotland confirmed: ‘Police Scotland sees on average 812 officers leave the organisation annually. Already during quarter 1 of this calendar year we have seen 321 officers leave the organisation, an increase of 69% on the normal 190 officers, which is the 5 year average’. Calum Steele wrote to the Criminal Justice Committee to say: ‘Quite simply the reason police officers are choosing to retire is because they have had enough.’ (Criminal Justice Committee, 22 June 2022, link).
Police numbers in Scotland have dropped below 17,000 for the first time since 2008, breaking the SNP’s previous promise to keep 1,000 more officers on the streets. Official figures show there were 16,805 full time police officers employed as of 31 March 2022. The SNP’s 2011 manifesto promised they keep 1,000 more officers on Scotland’s streets compared to 2007, which amounts to 17,234 officers, meaning the current number falls more than 400 short (Quarterly Police Strength Statistics, 3 May 2022, link; SNP Manifesto, 2011, link).
The SNP Government are breaking their manifesto promise to protect police funding in real terms, leading Iain Livingstone to say that policing isn’t a government priority. The SNP’s 2021 manifesto promises: ‘We will protect the police resource budget in real terms for the entirety of the next parliament’. However, the police are being allocated a frozen budget over the next five years – a real-terms cut given forecasted inflation. Iain Livingstone told the Scottish Police Authority that the Scottish Government ‘clearly set out its spending priorities…policing is not among those stated priorities’ (SNP Manifesto 2021, April 2021, link; The Scottish Sun, 23 June 2022, link).
The Scottish Police Federation described the SNP Government’s latest pay offer of £565 as ‘derisory’. Calum Steele of the Scottish Police Federation said ‘be in no doubt that the willingness of the police service to simply stand back and accept this derisory offer at a time that other bodies and other workers will be taking much more action than we are capable of doing - the notion that we are going to accept that and stay silent is simply a fantasy.’ (BBC News, 12 June 2022, link).
They also said officers are incandescent about the latest pay offer and that this action is the most overt demonstration of action in over 100 years. Calum Steele wrote in the Daily Mail: ‘Officers are incandescent at the current pay offer. They are beyond angry at how insulting it is. It is disrespectful of the job they do and the sacrifices they make… It is the most significant discontent in the police service since the 1970s, and the most overt demonstration of action by our members in more than 100 years.’ (Scottish Daily Mail, 30 June 2022).
Violent crime has risen to its highest level since Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister and sexual crimes are at their highest level on record. There were 69,286 non-sexual crimes of violence recorded in 2021-22, higher than any other year since 2012-13. The definition of violent crime now includes those who have had their nose broken, where previously they did not. There were 15,049 sexual crimes recorded in 2021-22, higher than any other year on record. (Recorded Crime in Scotland 2021-22, 28 June 2022, link).