POLICE Scotland was created with cross-party support, but a recurring concern about a single force was always the increased scope for Ministerial control.
Legacy forces were scrutinised by local authority boards, but Police Scotland is overseen by the national Scottish Police Authority, whose members are appointed by the Government.
Claims of political meddling in the SPA have been voiced since 2013, but the controversy over Justice Secretary Michael Matheson’s intervention in the case of chief constable Phil Gormley has created a crisis in policing.
Gormley, who was the surprise choice as Sir Stephen House’s successor, went on leave in September to prepare his case against bullying allegations.
The SPA, as was their right, decided unanimously on November 7th that Gormley could return to his day job, but the chief constable stayed on leave after Matheson expressed his concern to the oversight body.
Although the board had come to its own conclusion, an intervention by a Cabinet Secretary was enough to nullify a decision by a supposedly independent body. To critics of the SPA, it seems that board decisions are advisory until rubber-stamped by Government.
Yesterday’s robust parliamentary statement by Matheson will do little to allay concerns that major decisions on policing are being made by politicians in St Andrew’s House.
The Justice Secretary now faces a difficult few weeks. A Holyrood committee wants to quiz him on his actions and the same group of MSPs are also likely to hear from Gormley and ex SPA chair Andrew Flanagan.
The suspicion also persists in some circles that the Government, and its allies in the wider policing family, want Gormley out and deputy chief constable Iain Livingstone in.
It is also hard to see how the Justice Secretary and Gormley, whose lawyer said the failure to implement the SPA board decision could be challenged by judicial review, can repair their relationship.
The wider concern is whether the SPA is fit for purpose. Dr Ali Malik recently completed a PhD on the SPA which included interviews with board members who were in post between March 2015 and May 2016.
The anonymous interviewees variously described the SPA as “useless”, a “waste of time”, and in the “pocket” of the SNP Government.
One said: “Every time we try to bite, the government removes a tooth...I have been shocked, absolutely shocked at the level of government interaction.”
Oversight bodies need time and space to make their own decisions. The public interest is unlikely to be served by the same organisations being overruled by Ministerial diktat.
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