Police Scotland £18m compensation payout revealed in new report
Police Scotland have paid out millions of pounds in compensation since 2019 to settle legal actions brought by both the public and their own officers.
Cash strapped Police Scotland has forked out more than £18 million in compensation payments in the last six years according to shock new figures.
Recipients include Rangers administrators David Whitehouse and Paul Clark and former firearms officer Rhona Malone. Details of the eye watering payouts, released by Police Scotland under Freedom of Information (FOI) have prompted a furious reaction.
Scottish Labour Justice spokesperson Pauline McNeill said 'These are significant sums of money at a time when frontline policing is under so much pressure. 'The SNP must work with Police Scotland to reduce this bill and get this money back into frontline policing where it belongs by addressing the underlying issues responsible for the claims.'
Last year - 2024/2025 - Police Scotland paid out more than £2million in damages including £816,429 to police officers and civilian staff and a further £1million plus in vehicle accident claims by the public. The force also reached an undisclosed settlement in March with the family of Sheku Bayoh - who died while being restrained by police officers in Kirkcaldy in 2015. However it's not known if that sum is included in the latest figures.
In the last six financial years, since 2019/2020, a total of £18,030,675 has been paid in compensation by Police Scotland. It includes £8.8 million for employer liability and employment tribunal £5.6 million for motoring claims and £3.4 million in public liability claims.
The force have paid compensation to members of the public whose property is damaged during police operations, including front doors. Compensation is also paid for accidents involving police cars, wrongful arrest, and staff discrimination cases which end up in employment tribunals. No details were given of the individual compensation claims or of the successful claimants in the FOI response.
However Police Scotland has been the subject of several long running and costly legal actions since 2019. In November 2020 the force agreed to pay almost £400,000 to two ex-administrators of Rangers FC, after they were arrested during a failed fraud investigation.
David Whitehouse was given £75,000 in damages and £235,000 in legal costs. His colleague Paul Clark received up to £75,000 in damages along with a contribution to his legal costs.
In May 2022, former firearms officer Rhona Malone, 43, was awarded £948,000 in damages by an employment tribunal who found she had been the victim of sexism and discrimination. Police Scotland had to pay £118,000 towards her legal costs.
Police Scotland have paid the family of tragic Lamara Bell more than £1million in compensation since 2021.
Lamara, 25, and partner John Yuill, 28, died in July 2015 after their car careered down an embankment on the M8 near Stirling. Despite a call being made to police, it took three days for the force to respond.
David Kennedy, General Secretary of the Scottish Police Federation said: "The vast majority of those claims will be from our members. "The question I would have is what lessons are Police Scotland learning from the claims they are having to pay out ."What measures are being taken to prevent a recurrence? "When we go to the force with cases early they don't fix them quick enough. "Which ends up in bigger claims."
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The massive compensation payouts come at a time when Police Scotland has had to cut costs by about £200 million. They have also announced plans to close 29 stations across Scotland, to raise funds to plug a budget black hole.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr MSP said: "Ministers who are responsible for underfunding our police and the broken complaints system need to get to the bottom of why the number of legitimate claims and payouts are so high and address the root causes.'
Scottish Liberal Democrat Justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP added: "Every pound spent on compensation is a pound not going towards community policing, tackling crime, or supporting officers on the frontline."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Compensation payments are dealt with on a case-by-case basis with a view to securing best value for the public purse."
The Scottish Government commented: "Decisions on compensation payments are for Police Scotland.
"We have passed legislation this year to drive improvements to the police complaints system."
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