By Steven Bell

PARTS OF Tayside are only being adequately covered by the police service because officers take on regular overtime, it was claimed last night.

The secretary of the local branch of the police federation, the body which represents rank and file officers, said it was a situation which gave him cause for concern.

However, Sergeant Malcolm Gibbs also said there were areas of Tayside where he would insist on overtime being paid in order to ensure officer safety “when the chips are down.”

Mr Gibbs was commenting on figures which revealed the local force paid out over £3 million in overtime over the last year.

One officer alone received more than £16,000 for working hundreds of extra hours—prompting concerns about the additional demands being placed on stressed staff.

“There are undoubtedly areas of Tayside Police region that require regular overtime to be used in order to deliver a reasonable service to the public in terms of officer numbers,” said Mr Gibbs.

“That is an absolute fact and not one that I am happy about.

“In many areas, however, I would insist on overtime being paid in order that my members feel safe in the knowledge that there are colleagues there to support them when the chips are down.”

Mr Gibbs said that was one of the reasons why the Joint Branch Board has been pushing for some time to change the shift patterns worked in the force.

“We need to meet the demands of the public and a new shift pattern should go some way to providing additional officers, not on overtime, at peak periods,” he said.

“I am pleased to say that considerable progress has been made in this area and I am hopeful of developments towards the end of this year.”

Figures uncovered under Freedom of Information showed officers in Tayside claimed for 120,919 overtime hours between April last year and March, up 40% on the previous year.

Part of the reason for the massive rise was the policing of the G8 summit of world leaders at Glen-eagles, within the Tayside force area, in July.

The SNP yesterday said the rise was nonetheless a “matter of concern” as it appeared overtime was being routinely used to fill staffing gaps.

“Use of overtime, like in the health service, is a sign of under-staffing, and what they need to be doing is recruiting to help cover these shortfalls,” said Dundee East MSP Shona Robison.

She acknowledged that part of the rise last year was accounted for by the force’s lead role in policing the G8 summit.

The figures obtained show that 30,470 hours of paid overtime were worked by Tayside Police officers in relation to the gathering of world leaders.

The cost of that was £483,662, which was met by the Scottish Executive.

Ms Robison said, “That aside, looking at the overall trend there is still a rise in overtime, and that is a matter of concern.

“It would be difficult to put a limit on the amount of overtime that an officer can work, because the police would have to continue providing a service once that’s reached.

“What they have to look at is better recruitment and retention policies, to be recruiting new officers rather than over-relying on overtime payments.”

A poll conducted by the Scottish Police Federation earlier this year found that four in every five members who responded felt there were “too few” or “far too few” police officers in their area.

Mr Gibbs said it was “abundantly clear” that for many years in Tayside, and Scotland in general, officer numbers have not increased in line with the way the workload has increased.

“I know that we sit with record officer numbers in Scotland but it is still not enough given the way policing has changed,” he said.

“New legislation continues to be rolled out and little cognisance is taken of how that affects the ability of the police to deliver its core function of responding to the needs of the public. Our frontline, 24/7 officers are busier than they have ever been in the past.”

The total cost of overtime payments was £3,048,687 in 2005/06, up 25% on the £2,424,404 figure for the previous 12 months.

Based on the force’s current strength of around 1000 officers in those ranks, the average overtime claim for last year was 115 hours or £2911.

However, the force also confirmed that “the highest annual total amount of overtime paid to a single officer was £16,099.97 in 2005/06, and £14,031.45 in 2004/05.”