SNP has kept its pledge on policing

Published on Saturday 30 August 2008 19:36

I AM writing to respond to the story you carried last Sunday claiming the Scottish Government is not delivering its promise on additional police capacity.

Last year, as we promised, 150 additional officers were recruited, paid for and are currently working in Scotland – a fact backed up by the Association of Chief Police Officers this week, who confirmed that "All forces have recruited their allocation of the extra 150 officers in 2007/08 and had these officers on the books at the end of the year."

The Government's pledge was to recruit an additional 150 police during this particular period over and above forces' normal recruitment plans, and that was achieved.

Your story highlighted a fluctuation in forces' projections of their recruitment requirement, which is refined throughout the year depending on operational need and the pool of potential recruits who meet the exacting standards required. Any variations were for logistical reasons rather than financial and they will make them up in the course of this financial year.

The facts are that police numbers are the highest ever recorded and we are well on our way to delivering the additional 1,000 police officers we promised to directly fund by the end of this Parliament.

Kenny MacAskill, Cabinet Secretary for Justice.