Nicola Sturgeon rejects claims of ‘crisis’ in policing as watchdog chair quits

Opposition leaders warned of toxic mix of chaos in Scotlands national police force. Picture: PA

Opposition leaders warned of “toxic mix of chaos” in the police service following Professor Susan Deacon’s departure amid concerns over “fundamentally flawed” accountability.

Senior SNP ministers insisted that policing in Scotland remained “sound” and work was being undertaken to address issues surrounding governance.

But Prof Deacon, who announced her resignation yesterday, is understood to have grown frustrated over the lack of separation between politics and policy in the oversight of the new force.

The former Labour minister had been in the post for less than two years after being appointed in the aftermath of a series of controversies, including the departure of her predecessor amid claims of bullying.

The current vice-chairman, David Crichton, will now take over at the helm until a replacement is found. Ms Sturgeon came under fire over the issue from rivals at First Minister’s Questions yesterday.

Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie claimed the police were “in crisis once again”.

“With the resignation of Susan Deacon, that’s now three chief constables, three chairs and four chief executives in just a few short years,” he said.

“Isn’t this just a toxic mix of chaos and complacency?”

But Ms Sturgeon dismissed the Lib Dem leader’s claims. “The police is not in crisis and it I think it does a disservice to the police officers around our country working so hard to keep us safe” the First Minister said.

“The chair of the SPA has tendered her resignation. She has her own reasons for doing that.”

Ms Sturgeon added: “In the meantime, the vice-chair of the SPA will get on with the job of responding to the recommendations that have been made by this Parliament’s committee by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary by continuing the improvements that are continuing to be made to governance and accountability.

“And we will continue to support the police officers of our country doing the fantastic job they do day in, day out, keeping crime levels low and making sure the public of Scotland are kept safe.”

Ms Sturgeon said her government had invested in and supported 1,000 extra police officers for Scotland, while numbers elsewhere in the UK were being “slashed”.

She added: “There has been no shortage of reviews of and inquiries into the Scottish Police Authority.

“Recommendations have been made which have been taken forward and of course we see improvements which had been made, which have been recognised by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.”

Recent inspectors’ reports have warned the SPA is not effectively holding the national force to account.

Ms Deacon said she had “increasingly become convinced that the governance and accountability arrangements for policing in Scotland are fundamentally flawed, in structure, culture and practice”.

In her resignation letter to justice secretary Humza Yousaf, she said there “is little more I can do to make these arrangements work effectively” as she urged the Scottish Government to reconsider how Scotland’s police force is scrutinised and held to account.

Prof Deacon succeeded Andrew Flanagan in the role, who left in 2017 amid a bullying row.

Before that, original SPA chair Vic Emery quit after having a number of public, high-profile rows with senior police officers.

At the time of Prof Deacon’s appointment, the force was in turmoil with the-then Chief Constable Phil Gormley on gardening leave amid claims of bullying.

He later quit to be replaced by Iain Livingstone.

The first Chief Constable of the national force was Stephen House, who quit three years into the role in 2015, amid anger over delays in the response to a fatal crash on the M9 and officers being routinely armed.

Mr Yousaf thanked Prof Deacon “for her dedication to the role” and said the SPA had a “strong interim chair, David Crichton who will step in”.

The justice secretary argued there was agreement the “right model” was in place for overseeing the work of Scotland’s police force.

He said there was “consensus” the legislation that created both Police Scotland and the SPA “establishes the right model of centralised governance of police by an independent police authority, and that the functions of the SPA are sound”.

But Mr Crichton insisted Police Scotland now had a “strong, resilient leadership team in place” as a result of Prof Deacon’s contribution. He added: “We believe that the system of governance and accountability for policing in Scotland that was envisaged by the founding legislation is a sound one and can work effectively.

“Members of the authority are fully committed to taking forward the range of work required within the SPA and with other partners to do so.

“While we respect this personal decision of the chair, our collective focus will be on working together with our dedicated staff team to build on recent progress, deliver the actions and improvements already identified, and redouble the SPA’s focus on the issues of greatest importance to policing and the public.”

Ms Deacon’s resignation came just 48 hours after Gill Imery, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, said the organisation was not doing “particularly well at the moment” in its key functions of holding Police Scotland to account and advocating for the force.

Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said: “I’d like to acknowledge the contribution Ms Deacon has made to policing in Scotland and thank her for the work she has done with us.”

Tory Justice spokesman Liam Kerr called for an “immediate review” into the problems within the force.

“This is an organisation in crisis,” he said.

“The SNP Government has made a complete mess of centralising Scotland’s police force and must take full responsibility for these failings.

“It’s not the first time that the SNP has been warned about the problems in scrutinising police and holding the force to account. Yet six years after the creation of the single force, the issues seem worse than ever.”

Labour justice spokesman James Kelly said: “This resignation reveals the SPA is an organisation in crisis.

“Susan Deacon’s resignation raises serious questions about the ability of the SPA to oversee the role of Police Scotland.

“The Chief Inspector of Constabulary has described the SPA as failing to hold senior officers to account and has said it has consistently let down hard-working officers by failing to make the case for greater funding.

“Due to the SNP’s short-sighted and shambolic approach to policing, morale is at an all-time low.

“The SPA is structurally flawed and in need of a radical shake-up.

“Nicola Sturgeon needs to get a grip and answer the serious questions over the governance and accountability of the SPA.”