POLICE Scotland is facing a £15 million hit this year due to the coronavirus crisis, amid ongoing concerns over its rising budget deficit. 

Chief financial officer James Gray said the force's income from policing events, sporting fixtures and airports has dropped by £8m, while £7m has been spent on personal protective equipment (PPE). 

Further losses are expected next year, he said, while the general pressure on public finances may cause additional challenges.

Police Scotland faces a budget deficit of £44m this financial year – taking into account the £8m fall in income – while a "highly indicative" baseline deficit of £50m is estimated in 2021/22. 

This is the cost of around 1,100 employees. 

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA), which oversees the force, said it does not see "any easy means" of reducing this over the next two to three years. 

In written evidence to Holyrood's Justice Sub-Committee on Policing, it added: "In fact it seems more likely only to increase."

Giving evidence to the committee, Mr Gray said one of the biggest impacts of the coronavirus crisis "has been a reduced level of income as a result of policing less events". 

He said: "That has had an £8m impact on the budget, and we would expect that to continue into 2021/22. 

"There will be some residual impact around airport passenger numbers and the number of events that are held. There is a risk around that.

"We've also seen additional costs in relation to PPE which have been quite significant. 

"In total, for this financial year, we're expecting an overall pressure on the budget of over £7m, in addition to £8m of lost income which had already been built into the budget in March. 

"So when you take those two together, then the impact of the policing budget in the current financial year has been £15m, and as I say I would expect some impact to continue into 2021/22, which will also contribute to the difficulties in trying to find a suitable budget to be set next March. 

"So I am concerned around the additional cost that we've been incurring, the cost that will carry on into next year and the general pressure on public finances across the UK and within Scotland and how that may make the settlement for 2021/22 more challenging than it would otherwise have been had we not had this pandemic."

Mr Gray said Police Scotland "made assumptions in March which we thought were quite severe". 

He added: "We forecasted a 20 per cent reduction in income, and that turned out to be understating it as we went through the summer and saw the actual impact of lockdown and the knock-on impact for events that continues to be an issue and will be for months to come."

He said airport income alone is worth more than £5m to Police Scotland.

It came as the Scottish Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, raised ongoing concerns over crumbling buildings and an ageing fleet. 

In written evidence to the committee, it said 2021/22 could be "the most challenging operational year yet" due to Brexit, the COP26 climate conference and the impact of Covid-19.

Police Scotland said it is on track to deliver total savings of £2.2 billion by 2026. 

Over the last three years, it said it made a case to the Scottish Government for capital funding – which covers such things as buildings, vehicles and equipment – of £246.8m. But just £136.4m (55%) was provided, it said.

In written evidence, Police Scotland added: "This is the second lowest level of capital investment in UK policing per employee."

It said it submitted a "strategy business case for investment...for the next three to five years" to the Scottish Government in March. 

This outlines the "significant transformative benefits which can be achieved and the £459.6m funding profile required to do so".

Plans to cut officer numbers have been put on hold due to the pressures caused by Brexit, COP26 and coronavirus. 

Lynn Brown, interim chief executive of the SPA, told MSPs there will be "hard choices" for ministers going forward.

In written evidence to the committee, the SPA said there had been "in-year financial impacts of the response to Covid-19". 

However it said: "These have been offset to a large extent by one-off in-year windfalls in other areas, and the expected forecast out-turn financial position will not be radically different to that budgeted for.

"While there are no certainties ahead while this virus remains such a threat to our personal and organisational lives, it is the view of the authority that the key financial and resourcing issues for policing are structural in nature, long predate Covid, and should remain the prime focus for budget consideration as they have not been fully addressed and there is no current approved plan to do so.

"In short, on revenue the structural deficit for 2021-22 is estimated currently at £50m. 

"These stark figures do not include any additional costs that arise from the pay award negotiations underway for all officers and staff or other financial pressures."