THE Justice Secretary has confirmed a pared down remit for the Scottish Police Authority following a power struggle between the chief constable of Police Scotland and the chair of the oversight body.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Stephen House will now have authority over the vast majority of police staff while the SPA has a busy but much more symbolic role looking at future direction of policing, scrutiny and oversight of budgets – a long way from the near operational role its chair Vic Emery seemed to envisage at one stage.
A deal to be struck at the SPA meeting in Lockerbie next week was outlined in a letter from Mr MacAskill to the Justice Sub-committee on Policing at Holyrood.
Meanwhile, Police Scotland has been told it will receive no more Government funding for its £45 million project to replace its outdated computer network.
When asked if the Government was going to give the police more money for IT at a press conference in Edinburgh, Mr MacAskill said: "No. These matters are being worked out by Police Scotland and the SPA and they are confident they can deliver. The police budget is capable of providing for that."
The SPA has said it is confident it can meet the cost of ICT integration from existing budget.
Money could be found by selling off redundant buildings once used by the old eight forces, the SPA has said. A full business case will be presented to SPA members next week.
In the letter to the Justice Sub-committee on Policing at Holyrood, Mr MacAskill confirmed the chief constable has reached "an accord" with Mr Emery in the long-running dispute over who should control human resources for police staff.
He said the SPA will continue to lead on long-term strategy, performance scrutiny, workforce policy, budget accountability, the national forensic service, independent custody visiting, complaints and senior appointments.
Mr MacAskill's letter to the Justice Sub-committee on Policing at Holyrood states: "Following a successful transition, we are now embarking on this crucial next phase of reform when the delivery of policing will be transformed to ensure a genuinely integrated and efficient single service."
The force's civilian watchdog will now refocus its efforts on the "not inconsiderable task" of holding "a very powerful chief con-stable" to account, according to a SPA spokesman.
Unison, the union representing civilian staff in the police, is celebrating these developments as a victory, arguing the greater the duplication between SPA and Police Scot- land the less money there would be to maintain civilian backroom staff.
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