Written Question · S5W-24755 · Session 5
What its response to the claim by the Channel 4 News Fact Check that “it's hard to say how many police officers are actually 'on the beat' …
The question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response to the claim by the Channel 4 News Fact Check that “it's hard to say how many police officers are actually 'on the beat' in Scotland today.”
The answer
Information on the number of officer deployed in ‘on the beat’ roles is not held centrally.
Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland (POQS) gives the total number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. First published as Official Statistics in December 2008, POQS was designed to measure the implementation of the 2007 manifesto commitment to increase officer numbers by 1,000. As such, figures include all police officers appointed by the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and senior police officers appointed by the Scottish Police Authority, excluding those on career breaks.
The latest edition of POQS was published on 6 August 2019, and reports that there were 17,259 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 30 June 2019, up 87 police officers (+0.5%) in the last year, from 30 June 2018 and up 1,025 police officers (+6.3%) from the position at 31 March 2007. In contrast, police officer numbers in England and Wales fell by around 19,000 (13.3 per cent) from March 2007 to March 2019.
Further information on POQS can be found in the Statistical Release Notes that accompany each publication, available online at the following link:
https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PublicationPoliceStrength/POQS2019Q2 .
Deployment of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Police Scotland publish sub-national police officer numbers on a quarterly basis in parallel with the Scottish Government’s Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statistics. A link to Police Scotland’s latest sub-national officer numbers publication, providing information on the number of police officers deployed nationally, regionally and within the 13 local policing divisions, is given below:
https://www.scotland.police.uk/assets/pdf/138327/212520/police-scotland-officer-numbers-quarter-1-30th-june2019?view=Standard .
Police Officer Quarterly Strength Scotland (POQS) gives the total number of full-time equivalent police officers employed by Police Scotland. First published as Official Statistics in December 2008, POQS was designed to measure the implementation of the 2007 manifesto commitment to increase officer numbers by 1,000. As such, figures include all police officers appointed by the Chief Constable of Police Scotland and senior police officers appointed by the Scottish Police Authority, excluding those on career breaks.
The latest edition of POQS was published on 6 August 2019, and reports that there were 17,259 full-time equivalent (FTE) police officers in Scotland on 30 June 2019, up 87 police officers (+0.5%) in the last year, from 30 June 2018 and up 1,025 police officers (+6.3%) from the position at 31 March 2007. In contrast, police officer numbers in England and Wales fell by around 19,000 (13.3 per cent) from March 2007 to March 2019.
Further information on POQS can be found in the Statistical Release Notes that accompany each publication, available online at the following link:
https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Crime-Justice/PublicationPoliceStrength/POQS2019Q2 .
Deployment of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable of Police Scotland. Police Scotland publish sub-national police officer numbers on a quarterly basis in parallel with the Scottish Government’s Police Officer Quarterly Strength Statistics. A link to Police Scotland’s latest sub-national officer numbers publication, providing information on the number of police officers deployed nationally, regionally and within the 13 local policing divisions, is given below:
https://www.scotland.police.uk/assets/pdf/138327/212520/police-scotland-officer-numbers-quarter-1-30th-june2019?view=Standard .
In the Official Report
No contribution in the Official Report cites S5W-24755 by reference.