Union warns police force will fail best value test

UNISON has warned Police Scotland will fail to provide best value after a study commissioned by the union said there was scope for an increase in civilian roles.

The Stewart Report found that since June 2008, officer numbers had increased by eight per cent, while civilian posts had falled by 11.

Unison warns this will lead to better paid police officers carrying out work previously done by staff at a greater cost to the taxpayer.

The Stewart Report is being presented to MSPs at the Scottish Parliament at 6pm today.

Dave Watson, head of bargaining and campaigns, said: “Police staff do an incredibly important job in roles from corporate and admin support to functions such as intelligence, crime prevention, custody and detention and scenes of crime officers.

“It makes no financial sense to have police officers backfilling these posts.”

Scottish Labour’s justice spokesman Lewis Macdonald added: “This report clearly indicates that civilian police staff are paying the price for the SNP’s reckless approach to setting up a single police service.”