Police watchdog still struggling after six years, warns Auditor General

She said there “now an urgent need to formally agree a common understanding” of how the SPA would fulfil the role originally envisaged for it, and it needed “a period of stability” to sort itself out, after a churn of top personnel.

She also said funding delays had hit key IT projects, including the fight against cybercrime.

THe opposition said it underlined the “botched” nature of the SNP’s police and firms reforms at the start of the decade and called for an independent expert review.

Ms Gardner’s findings come just a fortnight after the SPA, which controls the annual £1.2bn police budget, lost its third chair since coming into being in 2013.

Professor Susan Deacon quit saying the system she oversaw was “fundamentally flawed in structure, culture and practice” and there was nothing more she could do to fix it.

She urged the Scottish Government to “think afresh” about how the police service was scrutinised and held to account.

Nicola Sturgeon dismissed the criticisms, saying she simply disagreed with Prof Deacon.

The SPA has also been through four chief executives since its inception.

In September, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland said there was an inherent conflict of interest in the SPA being both a service provider to Police Scotland, setting its £1bn a year budget, while also being its scrutiny body.

Now, in her audit report of the SPA for 2018/19, Ms Gardner also says the policing reforms behind the single force are causing problems.

Although the SPA’s financial statements were of a “good standard” and there was no health warning on their accounts, it failed in its main financial objective of staying inside its budget.

For 2018/19, Scottish Ministers set it a budget of £1,133.6m but it spent £1,169.2m, an overspend of £35.6m, albeit one that was foreseen, resulting in an operating deficit.

During the year, the Government was forced to give the SPA an extra £50m to support the overspend, and the SPA will now fail to balance its budget by 2020/21 as planned, partly as a result of delaying cuts in officer numbers because of Brexit.

The report said there was now an “urgent need” to prepare staff plans if the SPA and Police Scotland are to deliver on their joint 10-year modernisation plan by 2026.

It said: “There remains an urgent need to prepare detailed workforce plans, including robust scenario planning, to support the transformation required to deliver Policing 2026.

“Until these are in place, it will be challenging to accurately determine long term financial sustainability.”

The report also identified delays in plans to overhaul the single force’s digital and IT equipment, which is supposed to cost around £300m over nine years.

Only £12.4m was made available for capital projects in 2018/19 and the budget for 2019/20 is £25.2m, less than a third of the £89m which is considered needed for new IT kit.

It said: “Projects which were postponed included the digital evidence platform and the national cybercrime infrastructure. The delay in implementation has delayed the delivery of the expected financial benefits and additional capacity. Limited funding is not the only factor contributing to the delays, as the timescales associated with procurement and the governance of business cases have also had an impact on project plans.”

However the report is most critical of the SPA’s governance and leadership functions.

It said a new chief executive appointed in late 2018 was supposed to prioritise an improvement plan for the SPA’s corporate functions, but by June 2019 Prof Deacon reported to her board that there had been “no progress” on that front.

Three months later the chief executive quit after “an extended period of absence”.

The report said: “The lack of stability in the chief executive role over the last two years has limited progress in developing the Scottish Police Authority corporate function.”

It also revealed Prof Deacon had been earning £125,000 a year at the time of her departure, after increasing her expected 12 days’ work a month to 20, at £530 per day.

Ms Gardner’s report concluded: “There have been improvements in key areas, and some of the concerns highlighted in previous audit reports have been addressed.

“There is now a need to build on this progress. There are still considerable challenges ahead for the Scottish Police Authority.

“Financial balance will no longer be achieved as planned by 2020/21, and the SPA will need to secure support from the Scottish Government for this extended timescale.

“I remain concerned about the capacity and capability of the SPA corporate function, which must be developed to allow the organisation to fulfil its responsibilities.

“Clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the SPA and of the corporate function should be a priority for the new chair and the interim chief executive.

“There is now an urgent need to formally agree a common understanding of how the Scottish Police Authority will be developed to fulfil the role envisaged by the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012

"There have been improvements, but considerable challenges remain. The SPA now needs a period of stability to build capacity and plan for a modern and financially stable police service."

Labour MSP Jenny Marra, convener of Holyrood's Public Audit Committee, said: "This is the sixth consecutive Section 22 report published by Audit Scotland that highlights key issues of concern relating to the management of the SPA and its oversight of Police Scotland.

“Although the report concedes that some concerns have been addressed, it is worrying that clear shortcomings of governance, delivery of strategic objectives and the ability to achieve financial balance remain.

“The committee will be asking why these shortcomings still exist and if the scale of transformation required to deliver Policing 2026 plan can be achieved.”

Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, whose party opposed the merger of Scotland’s eight regional police forces in 2013, said: “The SNP’s botched centralisation means roles and remits have been murky from day one, turbocharging the revolving door to the top brass’ offices.

“Financial balance will not now be achieved by 2021, meaning it is heading towards spending a decade in the red. The long promised modernisation has barely even begun, leaving officers and staff with ageing IT, hazardous buildings and unreliable cars.

“Policing in Scotland urgently needs competent governance, so that the national force can be fit for the future.

“The Scottish Government must initiate an independent expert review of how policing structures are operating to inject accountability, transparency and localism back into the system.”

Tory MSP Margaret Mitchell, convener of Holyrood’s justice committee, said: “The Justice Committee has been concerned about the SPA’s oversight of Police Scotland for some time, and has already considered a number of the issues raised in Audit Scotland’s report.

“As part of the Committee’s post-legislative scrutiny of the 2012 Act, underpinning policing arrangements in Scotland, it made recommendations about governance, and is continuing to monitor developments at the SPA closely.

“Members will take stock in the new year, and consider how, as parliamentarians, we can act most effectively to ensure that scrutiny of Police Scotland and the work carried out by the SPA is up to the standard the public has a right to expect.”

Lynn Brown, Interim Chief Executive and accountable officer for the policing budget in 2019/20 said: “Audit Scotland has issued an unqualified opinion of the SPA’s accounts which is again to be welcomed.

“The Auditor highlights a number of areas where either improvement or further clarity is required, all of which are accepted and which we are actively addressing at our own hand and with partners.

“We are working hard on a plan to develop the capacity and capability of the Authority and work to address this will make material progress before the end of the current financial year. In addition we are developing a Corporate Plan which will set out the Authority’s work and priorities for the year ahead.”

David Crichton, Vice Chair of the SPA said: “I warmly welcome the Auditor General’s call for a period of stability in the SPA.

“The Members of the Authority will continue to work closely with the Interim Chief Executive and her staff to focus on the important service change and financial challenges for policing that the Auditor General's report brings into sharp focus today.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We welcome the continuing improvements within the SPA which have been highlighted by Audit Scotland.

“Improved accounting and effective budgetary processes are to be welcomed and Audit Scotland has also concluded that the Authority operates in an open and transparent manner.

“The recent thematic review of the SPA by HMICS was also clear that there has been genuine progress at the Authority over the past 18-24 months.

“Where issues have been identified, we will support the SPA  in addressing the findings of the report.”