Scottish police criticised by Audit Scotland for poor financial management for third year in a row

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Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) have come under heavy criticism from Audit Scotland for weak financial leadership.

The annual audit uncovered “inaccurate records and poor financial management” that led to “significant corrections” to SPA accounts covering the £1.1bn of spending it was responsible for in 2015/16.

The auditor comments: “Aspects of the accounting records and access to information and explanations in the area of property, plant and equipment were of poor quality.

“In my opinion, therefore, adequate accounting records have not been kept in respect of these areas for the 2015/16 financial year.”

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The audit also says that during 2015/16, there continued to be “weak financial leadership in both the SPA and Police Scotland and a shortage of capacity and competency in key areas, such as capital accounting”.

“This contributed to another unusually challenging audit that required significant additional work from the Audit Scotland team,” it adds.

This is the third year in row that the Auditor General has found serious fault with the management of Scotland’s national police force – every year of its existence.

The report says that while the accounts have more detail on how reform funding from the Scottish Government has been used, the SPA needs to be more open about how it allocates funding to Police Scotland and what it is expected to achieve.

However, the Auditor General estimates that Police Scotland will have a major funding shortfall of just under £190m by 2021.

Auditor General Caroline Gardner said: "The Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland are among the largest and most important public bodies in the country.

“It's therefore unacceptable that I've had to report to the Parliament on weak financial leadership and management in all three years of their existence.

"Substantial improvement is required now to deliver the strong financial leadership, long-term planning and robust scrutiny that will be needed if policing in Scotland is to withstand the major challenges ahead."

Responding to the critical report, SPA chairman Andrew Flanagan said: "Over the last nine months a number of significant improvements have been announced and implemented to strengthen financial management of policing.

"I am confident that the new arrangements translate to a step-change in policing's approach to financial planning and control and will help address more fully the issues Audit Scotland raise within the current financial year."

The SPA, which manages the police service in Scotland, will publish a new policing strategy in 2017.