Gaffe-prone police spend £3m on PR
POLICE Scotland is spending nearly £3million a year on spin doctors – despite a series of PR disasters.
It came second in a league table of how much UK forces spend on press officers and internal communications.
New figures show taxpayers are footing a bill of £2.7million a year – or £7,400 a day – for 68 Police Scotland ‘ c o mmunications professionals’.
The spending comes at a time when Chief Constable Sir Stephen House has warned that ‘extreme measures’ are needed to make massive police savings.
But the cash has failed to avert a string of damaging PR blunders, including the row over routine armed policing.
Last night, Eben Wilson of Taxpayer-Scotland said: ‘ It’s extraordinary that so much is being spent on communications – what happened to preventing crime and catching criminals?
‘Many were concerned that centralisation would make the police more self- serving, rather than responding to what communities want and need. This amount of money spent on spin seems to prove this has happened – a centralised service which thinks highly of itself and is determined to tell us it’s doing a good job.’
Police Scotland PR crises in recent months include the row over a secret order to deploy armed officers on routine callouts, which had to be rescinded following a public outcry and a campaign led by the Mail.
The practice of stop-and-search has also sparked widespread criticism after police released wildly inaccurate data about its use on under-12s.
Nicola Sturgeon warned Sir Stephen in front of rank-and-file police officers last month that ‘no chief constable can be a law unto themselves’.
The First Minister, who won rapturous applause from delegates at the Scottish Police Federation con- ference, also urged him to ‘reflect’ on his performance.
The figures, revealed following freedom of information requests by Press Gazette, showed the Metropolitan Police has the largest number of PR professionals and the biggest budget. It employs 105 staff and will spend £10.3million this year. In total, 45 forces were asked to provide details, with 38 responding. There are at least 775 communications professionals in UK police forces and spending is at least £36million.
Amanda Coleman, chairman of the Association of Police Communicators, said: ‘ Police communications staff provide a 24-hour service which ensures that police officers remain on the frontline. As with the rest of the public sector, budgets and staffing have been significantly reduced.
‘Despite this, more information than ever is being provided.’
Deputy Chief Constable Neil Richardson of Police Scotland said: ‘Corporate communications plays an important role in providing information to communities.
‘The majority of our costs relate to staffing, with the remainder including internal communications, marketing, social media and the website. It’s impossible to compare corporate communications between one force and another because of the different contexts we each operate within.
‘We continue to work to identify savings where possible.’
‘We continue to identify savings’