Policing remains a Scottish Government priority. Despite the difficult financial circumstances that have been caused by the UK Government’s austerity policies, the Scottish budget for 2024-25 includes record total funding of £1.55 billion for the police, which, as I have just said, represents an increase of £92.7 million. That increase includes an additional £75.7 million in resource budget to protect and support front-line policing.

Decisions on the allocation of those resources, including those designed to tackle antisocial behaviour, are, quite properly, a matter for the chief constable, who is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority. When the 2024-25 budget was announced in December last year, Ms Farrell made it clear to the Criminal Justice Committee that

“The allocation is an important recognition of Police Scotland’s value and the contribution that policing makes to Scotland being a safe place to live and work, with historically low levels of crime.”—[Official Report, Criminal Justice Committee, 20 December 2023; c 2.]