Police Scotland to receive £10m for low emission vehicles
The Scottish government is to provide £10 million extra funding to help Police Scotland “accelerate its plans to transition to a sustainable ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) fleet”.
The money will be used by the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) to purchase around 235 new ULEVs.
It will also help to replace 140 existing petrol or diesel vehicles across a range of essential, specialist policing functions.
The investment will enable Police Scotland to move faster on plans to decarbonise the fleet and support its vision of having the UK’s first ultra-low emission blue-light fleet by 2030.
Scottish Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said the funding is in addition to the “record £1.3 billion to be invested in policing next year” – which includes a £60 million increase in the SPA resource budget and an extra £15 million to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said: “This additional capital funding for policing is a significant step forward in providing appropriate investment in policing infrastructure.
“Our operational demands and plans mean we can quickly make use of such funding to give officers and staff the tools they need to do their jobs.
“Reform of policing in Scotland has brought many benefits to all communities across the country at a much reduced cost to the public purse. This welcome investment and the decision to eliminate policing’s structural funding deficit reflects the significant value policing provides to the public we serve.”
Mr Yousaf said: “I am pleased that the Scottish government has been able to support Police Scotland with an additional £10 million to invest in modernising its fleet, which will also enable them to accelerate their plans to transition to a sustainable ULEV fleet.
“Police Scotland’s fleet strategy has a focused drive towards decarbonising its fleet of vehicles, and demonstrates ambitious leadership in this area.”
Martyn Evans, chair of the SPA, said: “This is an extremely welcome investment, which adds significant momentum to meeting the Authority’s and Police Scotland’s ambitious carbon emission targets. We can now ensure 20 per cent of the police fleet is green within the coming year.”