In December, Audit Scotland published a report that should worry everyone with an interest in the future of policing.
The watchdog projected a potential long-term deficit of £188m in policing finances and warned of continued “weak financial leadership in both the SPA and Police Scotland”.
The report confirmed what politicians have long feared: Police Scotland may be locked into a spiral of cuts and decline.
With this as context, the single force must deliver sound financial management by ensuring that every penny spent can be justified.
However, as we report today, the cash-strapped force can still find sizeable sums of money for purposes some would find questionable.
As is well known, the force illegally used its spying powers in a failed bid to flush out a journalist sources on the murder of sex worker Emma Caldwell.
This sorry saga led to an Investigatory Powers Tribunal which was called to discuss “remedies” for the affected individuals.
Instead of using an in-house lawyer, Police Scotland turned to a high profile QC who had previously worked for another force on the Hillsborough case. Hiring Johnson cost Police Scotland nearly £14,000.
Why is this important? Since 2013, the force has laid off civilian staff and made other cuts in an attempt to make savings.
And, yet, Police Scotland found enough money in its budget to pay for a QC on an issue disgraced the force. Chief Constable Phil Gormley needs to get a grip on the purse-strings - and fast.
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