HUMZA Yousaf has rejected calls for Scotland’s chief constable to become the accountable officer to the Scottish Government for policing over fears the force could be perceived as having “political influence” from ministers.
Tory MSP Margaret Mitchell appealed to the Justice Secretary to consider whether Police Scotland’s top officer, chief constable Iain Livingstone, should be named the accountable officer for policing in Scotland – given the vast sums of money he has oversight for on behalf of Police Scotland.
The chief executive of the SPA, a post currently being recruited for, is the accountable officer of the authority – while the Scottish Government’s permanent secretary, Leslie Evans, is the principle accountable officer.
READ MORE: New Police Scotland watchdog chief 'being set up to fail' after snub
As accountable officer, the SPA chief executive is ultimately answerable to the Scottish Parliament.
Following an independent review of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), published in August by former auditor general for Scotland, Bob Black, he warned that “since the chief executive sits outside Police Scotland, there are particular challenges for the post holder in fulfilling the role of accountable officer”.
Ms Mitchell, the vice convener of Holyrood’s Sub-Committee on Policing, quizzed Mr Yousaf on the issues raised by Mr Black in his review.
She said: “I notice that the independent review undertaken by Bob Black has looked at the issue of accountable officer, which is currently held by the SPA chief executive.
“Can you explain why this has been looked at and wouldn’t it make more sense if the chief constable is responsible for spending of nearly all of the £1 billion of Police Scotland resources, that the chief constable should be the accountable officer.”
Mr Yousaf admitted “there should be a discussion around the accountable office”, but dismissed calls for the chief constable to be handed the role.
He said: "I’ve been asked about the very specific operational spend of Police Scotland and my answer often is that it is for the chief constable to determine operational decisions for the organisaion.
READ MORE: Former SPA chief: Police Scotland's organisation 'full of clutter and confusion'
“I can see the logic of what you’re position seems to be - that the chief constable should be the accountable officer.”
He added: “My concern would be that one of the significant purposes of creating the SPA was to ensure that there was sufficient distance between ministers and operational policing and for very good reason – understanding the enormity of the power the chief constable has in terms of the single service and any perception that there could be political influence in that regard.
“If we make the chief constable the accountable officer, he then of course ultimately would report to the permanent secretary. To me, there’s a question to ask – does that bring the chief constable too close to government? That is really something that I would want to avoid – even if it’s just a perception if nothing else.”
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