Chilling Threats Make Case for Increased Funding

Sinister internet crimes, a new age of protest, mafia style gangs and the early release of prisoners likely to reoffend are ramping up pressure on Police Scotland. This is the subject of my latest Scotsman column, published on 11th November 2025.

You might think only a masochist would be fascinated by the work of the Scottish Parliament’s committees. After all, there’s not even the shouty, knockabout fun of First Minister’s Questions.

But it’s the committees where much of the real work is done. Where witnesses get to speak their minds and MSPs get to ask unscripted questions. If you want to smell the breath of our parliament, watch First Minister’s Questions, if you want to take its pulse, watch the cut and thrust of the committees – you may hear something important.

So it was last Wednesday when Chief Constable Jo Farrell was blunt, even by her straight-talking standards. Answering questions about Police Scotland’s 2026/27 budget bid, she made it clear that cumulative cuts over the last decade had brought Police Scotland to a crossroads of viability.

Unless some of the more than £1 billion taken from policing is returned, police numbers will fall further and the force will be unable to deal with present demands, let alone emerging threats.

The figures are stark. There are currently 16,400 officers in Police Scotland, well down on the headcount Police Scotland started with 13 years ago. Bad enough, but unless the police budget is increased that number will fall by another 1,000 by 2027.

You can understand the frustration. Police Scotland has lost substantial funding and staff while being radically reformed. Meanwhile the unreformed Civil Service and deified NHS continue to bloat without much evidence of service improvement.

Police Scotland are seeking a £134 million increase in their budget. It sounds a lot until you realise it’s only 10 per cent of the money policing has lost over the years. The Chief makes a compelling case with demands on policing changing, and not for the better.

Some emerging threats make for chilling reading. As we enter a new age of protest, demonstrations have increased from 1,000 a year to 2,000, mostly over busy weekends. The rise of Internet crime continues with some sinister twists. In a year, the notification of suspicious online activity with children has doubled from 700 to 1,500, each case rightly requiring exhaustive investigation.

Then there’s organised crime, of which we have learned much over the past year. From shootings and fire-raising to a double murder in Spain, gang wars have created much work for serious crime detectives.

Despite the success of anti-gang operations and dozens of arrests, Police Scotland is still monitoring over 90 organised crime groups. Failure to act against them will only bring bigger problems in the future but it’s a manpower-intensive business.

Then there are the knock-on consequences of decisions in other policy areas. Our prisons are packed full, and the only option is to release batches of prisoners early. Since the re-offending rate runs at over 40 per cent, the revolving door of our prisons will be spinning faster, meaning more victims of crime and more work for the police.

Government is about hard choices and money is tight, but Police Scotland have made a compelling case. Return some of the money hived off over the years or we will not get the policing we deserve. Policing is at a crossroads of viability. We cannot say we haven’t been warned.