Scotland's cash-strapped police force is spending nearly £3million this year on diversity staff and training - despite being unable to investigate all crimes due to budget cuts.

Thousands of investigations into ‘minor' crimes have been effectively written off, but Police Scotland has earmarked millions of pounds for scores of equality and diversity roles and coaching.

The cost of these jobs was only around £1million in 2020, a figure which has since more than doubled - sparking anger and concern that police are focusing on woke issues rather than solving crimes.

Police in Scotland were last month accused of ditching full probes into more than 12,000 ‘minor' crimes in cases where there is no lead, such as CCTV footage, because of plunging manpower and budget cuts.

Last night former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher said officers should focus on tackling a surge in organised crime - ‘rather than planning their next appearance at a Pride parade'.

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: ‘Given the financial strain facing Police Scotland thanks to the SNP's sustained budget cuts, they can ill-afford to be shelling out increasing sums in this area.

‘Every penny is a prisoner within the force, so there will be concerns that this rising cost means even fewer resources for overstretched officers trying to protect our communities.'

The total number of Police Scotland equality and diversity posts is 54 for 2024/25.




Former Police Scotland superintendent Martin Gallagher said officers should focus on tackling  organised crime rather than prioritising diversity stunts





Police Scotland Officers at Pride march in Glasgow

The force said the total forecast cost of such posts for the year is £2,642,683, while for external training on these issues the figure is £342,812.

This means a total of £2,985,495 will be spent on equality and diversity jobs and training.

Police Scotland said the total cost on such posts in 2020 was £1,073,802 but it was unable to say how much was spent on diversity training in that year.

In July last year, dozens of police officers were paid to take part in a Pride parade through Scotland's biggest city despite the force slashing resources and cutting back on fighting crime.

It was revealed that uniformed officers were being urged to represent the overstretched force at the LGBTI event in exchange for either pay or a day off in lieu.

While their colleagues were on duty at the parade to ensure order was maintained, police chiefs requested that other officers join in to show support for the marchers.

The event was deemed a ‘community engagement opportunity', with top brass declaring officers could attend on full pay as a result.

Around 25 uniformed officers took part in the march through Glasgow, wearing special LGBT rainbow epaulettes, and flanked by a marked car and van draped in Pride flags.

Commenting last night, former senior officer Mr Gallagher said: ‘Given the reduced police officer numbers, and rising crime, is there any intention to revisit the police officer posts allocated to this function?

‘My understanding is that CID officers are having to obtain uniforms and police [diversity-related] events and such.

‘Would a return of these posts to mainstream policing not better serve the communities of Scotland, rather than the abstraction of detectives?'

Earlier this month, it emerged police chiefs were asking an equalities watchdog for advice about whether they should allow rapists to self-identify as women - and provide single-sex changing rooms for staff.

Chief Constable Jo Farrell last year said the public and MSPs should be ‘assured' that a man who commits rape or serious sexual assault will always be recorded as male.

But the Mail revealed that this stance, which campaigners said was a major policy U-turn, was not communicated to officers, sparking claims that police may have misled parliament.

Before retiring in 2023, former Chief Constable Sir Iain Livingstone said the force was institutionally racist, sexist and misogynist and vowed to crack down on ‘canteen culture' and offensive banter.

Last year an independent review found sexist and misogynist attitudes are still ‘pervasive within Police Scotland'.

The three-year probe found ‘deeply embedded outdated attitudes that contribute to a hostile environment towards women within the service, and likely affect policing in wider society'.

Earlier this year, it emerged that Police Scotland had handed thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money to a gay and transgender rights group for teenagers which was once led by paedophile James Rennie.

LGBT Youth Scotland (LGBTYS) was given more than £3,500 for training courses - and for 500 ‘purple button badges' to show solidarity with the gay and trans community.

Commenting on diversity spending, a Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘Police Scotland remains committed to driving a culture change towards becoming an anti-racist, anti-discriminatory, policing service which fully reflects and represents all our diverse communities.

‘The onus is on policing to continue to earn and maintain the trust of the public and extensive work is ongoing through the Policing Together strategy to ensure that we are an organisation where our officers and staff know they belong, demonstrate our values, and take a human rights-based approach to policing.

‘Our officers and staff in dedicated equality and diversity roles, as well as the enhanced training being provided, represent an important investment which underlines our determination to build a better, more inclusive, service.'


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