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Legal Matters
Scotland
Police numbers will 'shrink' without extra funding

Scotland's chief constable, Jo Farrell, has warned that Police Scotland may have to reduce officer numbers unless Holyrood provides nearly £105m in additional funding for 2026-27. She highlighted a surge in complex demands on the force, including a doubling of child online abuse cases to nearly 1,500 in a year, an increase in protests from 1,000 to over 2,000 annually, and heightened monitoring of serious and organised crime and terrorist threats. Farrell cautioned that a "flat-cash" budget would force recruitment to stop and could see officer numbers fall below 15,500 by March 2027, affecting visible policing, prevention work, and response times. Police Scotland is also seeking a further £33m to address emerging threats, with Farrell stressing that the force is at a "crossroads."

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