EXCLUSIVE
More than £134,000 of taxpayers’ money paid out to Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell to help her buy a second home may have been unlawful, The Edinburgh Reporter can reveal.
Oversight body the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) signed off “relocation” expenses when Ms Farrell – appointed to the £270,000-a-year top job in 2023 – decided to retain her £1 million family home in Northumberland and also buy a £600,000 Edinburgh apartment.
But an Edinburgh Reporter investigation has found there appears to be no identifiable provision in law or in police regulations covering relocation expenses which allows the SPA to authorise payments relating to second homes – raising serious questions over whether the authority acted within its powers.
Now there are calls for public watchdog Audit Scotland to launch an investigation to establish if the SPA have acted properly and whether this use of taxpayers’ money was authorised in law.
Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for justice, Liam Kerr, MSP, said: “If SNP ministers and the Scottish Police Authority cannot point to why this spending was authorised, then Audit Scotland must investigate.”
The expenses claimed by Ms Farrell included more than £70,000 in fees, Land and Building Transaction Tax and Additional Dwelling Supplement – a tax introduced by the SNP government explicitly designed to discourage second-home purchases.
The SPA has repeatedly failed to respond to requests to identify specific legislation which permits second home expenses – instead lying on an internal policy document and general statutory powers to justify the payments.
It is understood, that historically, chief officers recruited by Police Scotland who wanted to retain their family homes and purchase a second property were told that only expenses associated with a bona fide “relocation” would be reimbursed.
Police pay, allowances and expenses are governed by the Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013, with Annex 19 covering relocation expenses for all ranks, but there is no explicit reference to second home purchases or to reimbursement of taxes like LBTT or ADS.
The Regulations are regularly updated but any changes to entitlements must be formally agreed through the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland.
Our probe, including an extensive Freedom of Information request, has found no evidence that the regulations have been updated or approved in relation to second-home purchases.
The police authority’s own staff have highlighted anomalies in the Chief Officer’s Relocation Procedure, a policy document which it claims meets the legal requirements for such payments.
In one review of “financial assistance available to Chief Officers to relocate” an official notes: “…second home purchase not explicitly in regs. Decision makers need to be aware of this.”
One retired chief officer said: “There is a lot of anger about these payments, both within Police Scotland and from ex-officers like myself. The regulations were only ever intended to reimburse officers who have genuinely relocated to Scotland, and that is entirely appropriate and reasonable.
“But they were never intended to support the purchase of a second home, which for all intents and purposes is a lifestyle choice, and one which will likely deliver a handsome return when Chief Constable Farrell retires, sells the property, and returns to Northumberland.”
In Police Scotland’s latest annual accounts, under Benefits in Kind, it was noted: ‘Jo Farrell received taxable relocation expenses of £69,901 (£134,426 including tax costs paid).
Ms Farrell’s “benefits in kind” is the highest recorded of any Chief Constable in the history of Police Scotland – the combined expenses attributed to the three Chief Constables who preceded her over a ten year period amounted to just £43,900.
Elliot Keck, campaigns director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said if it is proved the rules have not been followed, all sums should be recovered in full.
He said: “The Scottish Police Authority looks to have been caught red-handed paying out for a wildly inappropriate expense.
“Relocation payments are already very generous in the public sector, and this should mean strict limits on what is eligible under the terms of those payments.
“Whatever the rules, taxpayers across the UK would view the purchase of a second home as an unacceptable use of this money. The SPA needs to urgently come clean with Scottish taxpayers about what has happened. If it turns out this was a breach of the rules then it should be made to recover the payments in full.”
Conservative MSP Liam Kerr, added: “This decision smacks of the Scottish Police Authority trying to close ranks. Taxpayers have been billed a six-figure sum for the Chief Constable’s second home, yet it’s unclear what grounds this decision was taken on.
“At a time when police resources have been stretched to breaking point by SNP funding cuts, every penny is a prisoner, so this decision should have been subjected to robust scrutiny.”
Scottish Labour Justice spokesperson, Pauline McNeill, said: “These are significant sums of public money and it is important that there is transparency about these arrangements from both the SNP government and the Scottish Police Authority.
“Given the huge pressure on frontline policing, all decisions must provide good value for money. Angela Constance must explain why this support was agreed and how it helps to deliver the stronger police force and safer communities Scots want.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Police Authority said: “The Authority reimburses relocation costs in line with the Chief Officer relocation procedure. This procedure complies with Annex 19 of the Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013, agreed through the Police Negotiating Board for Scotland.”
