Scotland’s police chief has won a long-running “turf war” between the new national force and its watchdog, it has been claimed.
Sources say Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is now set to intervene in the spat and Police Scotland Chief Constable Sir Stephen House will be put in charge of crucial departments.
It follows the news interim Scottish Police Authority (SPA) chief executive Andrea Quinn is to leave the body, alongside the interim directors for strategy and finance, as revealed by The Courier.
An internal email written by Gerry Crawley, Police Scotland regional organiser for union Unison, says “there is a major announcement coming towards the end of this week/start of next week” by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.
The note adds: “Unison understands that this announcement will involve current roles that were ‘placed’ in the interim to the Scottish Police Authority being relocated to the Police Service of Scotland.”
The issue was discussed at a meeting involving government officials, Sir Stephen and Scottish Police Authority chairman Vic Emery.
Both the chief constable and the head of the police watchdog have been engaged in a battle over who controls the £1.4 billion policing budget and administrative functions of support staff.
A potential solution seemed on the horizon when plans were put forward to effectively create separate departments, which would see Police Scotland having its own teams under the control of Sir Stephen.
Additional staff for the civilian arm would be under the SPA.
One source said last night: “If there was a turf war between House and Emery, House has won it hands down.”
Another insider added: “Some of the functions the SPA had will be coming back to Police Scotland under the grip of the chief.”
A Scottish Police Authority spokeswoman said: “The SPA has been meeting regularly with the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and other partners as we look to put in place the right arrangements for the crucial next phase of reform.
“One of several such meetings took place earlier this week.
“The SPA’s next board meeting will be held in Lockerbie on June 26 and authority members expect to consider proposals for how this longer-term approach will be defined at this meeting.”
A Police Scotland spokesman said: “There have continued to be meetings throughout the process. Any comment on functions of the SPA would not be for Police Scotland.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The SPA has been meeting regularly with the Scottish Government.
“Another such meeting took place earlier this week to discuss the transition from the current arrangements to a longer-term set-up.”