Police Numbers

Speech by Alison McInnes delivered to The Scottish Parliament on Thu 25th Oct 2007

Police numbers concern people throughout my region. Grampian Police, which serves a large area in the region-with a city, towns, and a highly dispersed population-faces particular pressures, because historically it received a proportion of police funding that was lower than the Scottish average.

The previous Administration acknowledged the problem and started a levelling-up process in 2004, gradually increasing the percentage of funding that went to Grampian Police. The force responded well and ensured that the funding went to front-line service provision. However, that round of levelling up comes to an end in the next financial year. The £4.5 million that is earmarked remains unallocated by the new Government, which has responded to queries by saying that the funding is subject to the spending review.

There has been no support from the new Government to look at continuing the levelling-up process, despite the fact that the SNP called for greater funding while it was in opposition. It is essential that the manifesto commitments that were made on extra police numbers are delivered, but the extra numbers must be distributed fairly across Scotland. The SNP must see the levelling-up process through to its conclusion, thereby ending the traditionally higher proportion of funding that is channelled to forces in the central belt. Currently, Strathclyde Police and Lothian and Borders Police have proportionately more officers than Grampian Police has. It has been estimated that, on a per capita basis, Grampian Police would need 200 extra officers to reach Strathclyde levels.

I turn to some of the unique local pressures and issues that face Grampian Police. Those include the huge drug supply and misuse problem in Aberdeen and North Aberdeenshire and the fact that drug suppliers from England are heavily targeting the region. Another issue is the shocking level of road traffic accidents and road deaths. Additionally, we are now seeing longer periods of royal court residence that require more frequent staff abstractions, as no additional resources are being made available for royal protection. The area also has lower levels of block community safety funding, much of which is currently being used to pay for police officers.

The SNP is not only backtracking on its commitment, but threatening the legacy of the previous Administration, which was a steady increase in police numbers. The offer from the SNP now seems to be a more visible police presence and additional officers through redeployment, but that is manifestly not the same as 1,000 extra police officers. Yesterday, Joe Grant, the chief executive of the Scottish Police Federation, said that the incoming nationalist Administration had made a clear promise on the issue.

People across Scotland are looking to the SNP to honour the promise of 1,000 new police officers. The people of Grampian expect to receive a fair share of those new police officers-but, hey, broken promises are already the hallmark of the new Administration. Perhaps we should not hold our breath.