Police Scotland face 'virtually impossible' task of finding £4.5m to pay new apprenticeship levy

Police Scotland will have to pay out up to £4.5m a year under UK Government plans for a new apprenticeship levy, prompting warnings that finding the extra cash saving will be “virtually impossible”.

A paper submitted to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) last week confirmed the single force will be affected by the levy on employer payrolls announced by the Chancellor in his last budget.

Clarity over how Scotland’s share of the levy will be calculated and allocated is still to be confirmed, though the single force is preparing to take a financial hit in the region of £4.5m per year from April 2017.

The organisation that represents rank-and-file officers has warned policing budgets are “already almost stripped to the bone” amid fears the levy will hit salaries.

The UK Government hopes to raise £3bn via a 0.5 per cent levy on employer payrolls in excess of £3m. The levy, which will affect employers in all sectors, has been proposed as a means to fund three million apprenticeships throughout the UK.

“As things stand the assumption is that we would pay approximately £4.5 million per annum from 2017/18 onwards based on the total officer/staff pay bill,” a paper submitted by Police Scotland HR business partner, Alasdair Muir stated.

“There is no indication at present that any separate distinction will be drawn for calculation purposes between police officers, holders of the public office of constable, and police staff as ‘employees’ in the conventional legal sense.

“There is also no indication that any consideration would be given to relaxing current public sector pay policy requirements and we are therefore bound to base this proposal on current practice and protocol.”

The matter has been passed on to finance chiefs within Police Scotland as a prospective financial liability, though it is as yet unclear whether the force will be asked to find the savings or simply have the sum top-sliced off their budget from government.

Scottish Police Federation chairman Brian Docherty said: “At a time when budgets are getting squeezed as hard as they are and we’re struggling to get to where we should be – especially come 2016/17/18 in particular – to try and find additional money, if it is going to be as much as that or if it is going to be less, is going to be virtually impossible for the service to try and get to.”

The Federation chairman claimed the “only place” the funds could come from is through salary “because there is nowhere else that you can trim back”.

The SPA’s human resources and remuneration committee last week signed off on the creation of a modern apprenticeship programme for the civilian oversight body and Police Scotland.

Police insiders are hopeful that the programme, which is expected to have an initial intake of around 40 apprentices, will allow the force to claw back some of he money paid out via the apprenticeship levy.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The UK Government has still to provide clarity on how Scotland’s share of levy raised will be calculated and transferred to the Scottish Government.

“We will work with industry to explore how levy funding that comes to Scotland can benefit employers, young people and the delivery of our successful Modern Apprenticeship programme.”

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: “The UK Government has confirmed that Scotland will get its fair share of funding from the levy and discussions with Treasury officials are ongoing.

“The levy will only be paid by the largest 2 per cent of employers and will create life changing opportunities for young people across the country.

“Devolved administrations will continue to have complete flexibility over training and apprenticeships and will have control over how they spend their levy funds.”