Letter: Police defence

You raised questions about the creation of a single national police force and challenged the effectiveness of the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) in delivering efficiency savings (Perspective, 8 April).

I would like to offer some perspective. Over the past three years SPSA was set a target of delivering better services for our customers and delivering efficiencies for the public purse.

As Audit Scotland confirmed last year, we have met and exceeded all the efficiency targets set for us - some 5.3 million in terms of the amounts top-sliced from our budget each year.

Thanks to the hard work and commitment of our staff, SPSA has delivered tangible benefits in terms of savings, and real improvements in quality and productivity for Scottish policing.

In the majority of cases, we are delivering more support services for the forces than they experienced before we were created. For example, we have increased productivity in forensic testing that has contributed to a more than 57 per cent reduction in the inherited backlog of cases. We delivered training to the largest number of probationers at Tulliallan in history - more than 1,600 in a single year.

And we are supporting additional information systems like the Violent and Sexual Offenders Register for policing within our existing resources.

A recent independent report concluded that information and communications technology (ICT) services have been maintained since transferring from the forces, despite demand from the forces rising.

We accept that there is more to do, and we are embarking on a programme to change that for the better. The massive recent reductions in operational ICT backlogs across the forces is a very important first step towards delivering that.

No matter what the future shape of Scottish policing, our commitment to supporting them will continue.

ANDREA QUINN

Chief executive

Scottish Police Services Authority

West Regent Streeet

Glasgow