Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 17 March 2026 [Draft]
17 Mar 2026 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Topical Question Time
Police Scotland (Budget Allocation)
Recent reports suggest that retail crime in Scotland has risen sharply, with more than 50,000 shoplifting incidents recorded last year and nearly one in five shoppers witnessing the abuse of retail staff. The £3 million for the retail crime task force has made some impact, but, beyond that, what action will the Scottish Government take to ensure that the funding gap for Police Scotland does not undermine efforts to tackle shoplifting and violence against retail staff?
In the same item of business
3. Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on Police Scotland of the budget 2026-27 allocation being £50 million less than the ...
The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs (Angela Constance)
SNP
The 2026-27 Scottish budget will provide record funding of more than £1.7 billion for policing, which is a total increase of £81.5 million, or 5 per cent, co...
Liam Kerr
Con
The cabinet secretary strangely failed to mention one implication of the budget being £50 million less than requested, which is that, at the Scottish Nationa...
Angela Constance
SNP
Although the pay—including sick pay—and conditions of police officers are negotiated through the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland, the issue of whether ...
Liam Kerr
Con
It is always worth remembering that I, too, have access to figures. Since 2021, recorded crime is up 6 per cent, sexual crime is up 10 per cent, shoplifting ...
Angela Constance
SNP
I am very glad that Mr Kerr has access to figures, because he will therefore know that the Government has increased the budget for policing year on year sinc...
Rona Mackay (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (SNP)
SNP
What steps is Police Scotland taking to ensure that there is a good recruitment pipeline into our national force? Can the cabinet secretary provide any reass...
Angela Constance
SNP
Investment in policing has enabled Police Scotland to take on more recruits in the past financial year than at any time since 2013, and Scotland continues to...
Sharon Dowey (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
Recent reports suggest that retail crime in Scotland has risen sharply, with more than 50,000 shoplifting incidents recorded last year and nearly one in five...
Angela Constance
SNP
It is a shame that Ms Dowey and her colleague Liam Kerr did not vote for the Scottish Government budget, which provides £3 million not just this year but nex...