Speeches
Speeches
Police Resources - Justice Committee Debate on Inquiry into the effective Use of Police Resources (16 April 2008)
Margaret Mitchell (Central Scotland) (Con): As many contributors to the debate have pointed out, the Justice Committee's inquiry into the effective use of police resources comes some 40 years after the Police (Scotland) Act 1967, which is the statute that sets out the general functions and duties of the police. To state that the review is long overdue is an understatement, for there is no doubt that both the nature of policing and the public's expectations of the police have changed dramatically in the past 40 years.
Section 17(1)(a) of the 1967 act defines police functions and duties as
"to guard, patrol and watch so as—
(i) to prevent the commission of offences.
(ii) to preserve order, and
(iii) to protect life and property".
The act's provisions conjure up, to quote Bill Aitken, almost a "Dixon of Dock Green" image. It is tempting to conclude that it was all so simple then—it is not so simple today.
The Justice Committee's report is clear in its findings that, with increased general societal and legislative demands, and taking into account specific demands on individual forces, examples of which were explained in depth by Alex Johnstone and Mike Rumbles, existing resources are insufficient to deliver the 24/7 policing that the public expect. Today, the police must spend more time carrying out greatly expanded duties pertaining to the increased incidence of drug and alcohol-related crime, the implementation of European convention on human rights legislation, the Macpherson report on racism, policing the night economy, and terrorism incidents and their prevention. On top of all that, the police must devote adequate time to maintaining the sex offenders register. That is just a few of the police's duties.
It is not surprising that, in its evidence to the Justice Committee, ACPOS concluded that there were "insufficient officer numbers to meet public and political expectations." Significantly, however, the organisation stressed that the issue is not merely about the numbers of police that are required but, crucially, about how effectively the police use finite resources.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Police Federation believes that there are deficiencies in and increasing public disquiet about 24/7 response policing. That disquiet is reinforced by the fact that, according to figures in a study by Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary that was published in 2002, the proportion of police officers who were available for front-line deployment at any given time over a 24-hour period was a meagre 7.5 per cent. Further, the ASPS highlighted in its evidence that while it is hugely supportive of and successful in recruiting more women into the service, the change in gender mix—which reflects the communities that the police serve—has resulted in a sizeable increase in the number of officer maternity leave days. They stood at 8,500 in 1996-97, but rose to 47,500 in 2005-06.
John Wilson: Does the member accept that the difference between the figures for 1996-97 and 2005-06 is due to significant changes in maternity legislation, which allow for officers to take more time off, so it is not correct to compare the time taken off in 1996-97 with the time taken off in 2005-06?
Margaret Mitchell: No, I do not agree with that logic. It is indisputable that the number of days taken off for maternity leave has gone up considerably. Given that, it is welcome that the Justice Committee concluded that the Scottish Government requires to consider establishing a mechanism to review regularly police resources and that, as part of that review, it would be constructive to include an indication of how many police days were lost through suspension, pending inquiries into complaints.
The other part of the inquiry's remit relates to the provision of additional police officers and the efficiency of resource use. As John Lamont explained in detail, and notwithstanding Angela Constance's comments, because of Scottish Conservative representation, the number of additional new police officers that the Scottish Government is committed to providing has increased from the SNP pledge of 500 to 1,000, and they are to be in place by the end of this third parliamentary session. That is entirely in keeping with our conviction that a strong police presence provides a visible deterrent and boosts public confidence in the criminal justice system, which is borne out by the New York broken windows initiative and pilots that were carried out in Glasgow and Edinburgh, which showed that an increased, targeted police presence cut crime dramatically.
The report makes clear, however, that welcome though the 1,000 new officers will be, there will still not be enough officers to cope properly with full-time demands. While providing new and additional police officers is the preferred solution, limited resources mean that other ways must be found to cope with increased demands, including redeployment, more civilianisation and retention. Civilianisation and retention are problematic and will almost certainly be debated further, as will the question of community policing. I therefore very much welcome the Justice Committee's decision that community policing is sufficiently important and complex to merit a further inquiry, which the committee intends to undertake later this year.