Lost Your Keys ? Scottish Police Services Agency boss spends £800K on private consultants who provided ‘behavioural management training’

PUBLIC SERVICE CUTS apparently mean nothing at the Scottish Police Service Authority, the new watchdog for Scotland’s single Police Service, who are reported to have spent nearly a million pounds of taxpayers money on private consultants who provided  ‘behavioural management training’ with such fine examples as reducing time spent “looking for keys”, reports the Daily Record newspaper :

Outrage as head of the Scottish police watchdog authority spends £800k on 'behavioural management training'

14 Mar 2013

MSP slams payments to private consultants at a time when the Scottish Police Services Authority was under severe financial pressure and police union calls for an investigation.

THE boss of Scotland’s new police watchdog ran up an £800,000 bill for behavioural management training.

Andrea Quinn brought in consultants over a three-year period while she was head of the Scottish Police Services Authority.

Hollin Consulting received £428,862 from the SPSA, with training aimed at reducing the time spent “looking for keys” among initiatives developed by staff.

Another specialist in behavioural management training, Bruce Faulkner, was paid £353,475.

Quinn is now interim chief executive of the new Scottish Police Authority, who will oversee policing in Scotland when the single force begins operating on April 1.

Labour MSP Graeme Pearson, former boss of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, slammed the spending.

He said: “At a time when SPSA staff were under considerable pressure, it is remarkable private consultants were being paid such sums.”

Quinn used Hollin Consulting in her two previous jobs at Edinburgh Council and United Utilities.

She gave a testimonial on the firm’s website, saying: “Over the past seven years Hollin Consulting have provided personal coaching for me and my various teams, BMT training to over 200 of my people, and given me access to experts in behavioural science.”

Gerry Crawley, Unison’s negotiator for police support staff, said: “The SPSA has been pushing through cuts, yet they can find nearly £1million for behavioural management specialists. “It is unjustifiable, unacceptable and needs to be investigated.”

But Quinn defended the spending, saying they had been told by Audit Scotland to develop leadership skills.

She said: “I am proud of the track record we have in SPSA and of investing in staff training.“The investment we have made has mobilised hundreds of people to improve business and deliver efficiencies.”

It also emerged yesterday that the SPSA had a backlog of 3200 DNA and fingerprint checks, which will come under the remit of the SPA. Scottish Labour blamed staff cuts for the pile-up.

SPSA Chief Mulhern settles employment battle with £90k deal

David Mulhern, Chief Executive of the Scottish Police Services Authority, has stepped down from his post after settling a protracted legal battle with his employers, the SPSA. The out of court settlement is widely reported by media to be in the order of £90,000.

The SPSA took over fingerprint & other services from the former SCRO which itself ended up on the scrapheap after their disastrous misidentification of fingerprints at a murder scene which in turn led to the Shirley McKie fingerprint scandal. However the SPSA has never been far from controversy & headlines reporting anomalies in its supposedly ‘new broom’ role to evidence handling for the Crown …

The Herald reports :

Police chief ends legal battle over job with £90,000 deal

LUCY ADAMS, Chief Reporter April 10 2009

One of Scotland's most senior police figures has received a £90,000 out-of-court settlement and has stood down from his post after months of legal wrangling.

David Mulhern, chief executive of the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA), took the body to court in December last year to prevent them from taking disciplinary action against him on 37 different "extremely serious" complaints as well as "significant issues of concern".

The move comes as Graeme Pearson, former head of Scotland's leading crime fighting agency, described the establishment of SPSA as "farcical" and blamed the civil servants for a series of "fudges" and chief constables for their quiet "acquiescence".

In December, Mr Mulhern was granted an interim interdict blocking the hearing, but that was overturned by a judge at Glasgow Sheriff Court on January 9.

The case was referred to the Court of Session after Mr Mulhern appealed the decision later that month.

In January Mr Mulhern was suspended over "other allegations", details of which the SPSA would not specify.

The Court of Session appeal, due to begin on April 22, has now been dropped as part of the agreement, in which Mr Mulhern will dismiss all outstanding court actions against the SPSA.

The authority yesterday said the settlement was in the best interests of the organisation as the "relationship of trust" between Mr Mulhern and the authority's board had broken down.

George Kay, vice convener of the SPSA board, said: "I believe the agreement we have reached is in the best long-term interests of SPSA, and will allow the organisation to quickly enter a new phase of development with fresh leadership at an executive level."

SPSA statement on Chief Executive David Mulhern’s departure

The Scottish Police Services Authority’s statement concerning the departure of their now former Chief Executive David Mulhern, after receiving a £90,000 out of court settlement … (push or shove ? - Ed)

Statement by SPSA on the departure of David Mulhern

09 April 2009

The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) has today announced that its Chief Executive David Mulhern is to leave the organisation.

Mr Mulhern, who has been involved since last November in a legal dispute with SPSA over an ongoing disciplinary process, departs the organisation with a mutually agreed settlement of £90,000.

He leaves the organisation with immediate effect.

SPSA Vice Convener George Kay said:

"As staff and stakeholders have been aware, the SPSA Board has been engaged since last November in attempts to hold Chief Executive David Mulhern to account over concerns we had with his conduct and performance. Mr Mulhern in turn initiated a series of legal challenges that have delayed that disciplinary process, with a Court of Session appeal due to have begun later this month.

"While confident of our legal position being recognised in the coming weeks and months, as a Board we have been mindful of the ongoing costs to the organisation of this protracted legal process - in time, in legal fees and in the development of the organisation as an effective service provider for Scottish policing.

"What has become increasingly clear is that the relationship of trust and confidence so necessary between a Board and a Chief Executive has broken down. Without such a working relationship it is not possible to agree the right strategic direction for the organisation, nor deliver the right day-to-day leadership with staff and stakeholders to support that.

"That is why we have agreed a settlement in which Mr Mulhern leaves his post as Chief Executive with immediate effect. I believe the agreement we have reached is in the best long-term interests of SPSA, and will allow the organisation to quickly enter a new phase of development with fresh leadership at an executive level.

"This has been a difficult last few months for SPSA but we now have a resolution that will allow everyone to move forward and focus on what's important - our customers, our staff, and our performance. With our new Convener Vic Emery taking the chair of the organisation in January, the important task of recruiting a new Chief Executive truly offers us an opportunity to usher in a new era in the leadership of SPSA."

Law & Order : Scottish Police being trained ‘on the cheap’ as SPSA admits no extra money available

While all of us remember the SNP controlled Scottish Government's pledge to increase Police numbers by 1000, it turns out in an admission by the Scottish Police Services Authority there has actually been no extra funding made available for training by the current administration.

The Scotsman reports :

Police trained 'on the cheap' - Labour

Published Date: 08 April 2009

LABOUR today accused the Scottish Government of trying to train police officers "on the cheap".

The Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) has said in a letter to party justice spokesman Richard Baker that there has been no extra funding for training.

Some courses have also been cut and constables, rather than sergeants, were being used to train recruits.

The Government said last month they would surpass their manifesto pledge to recruit 1,000 more police by 2011.

"These answers prove that training for police officers is being diminished by the SNP," Mr Baker said.

"Refresher courses for one-year qualified recruits have gone, we've got constables rather then higher ranks providing the training and all of this with no extra money for training from government.

"You don't need to be genius to work out that if you are putting more people through a course and the funding does not increase then the spend per recruit is being hit."

The information emerged after Mr Baker tabled a series of questions about the Scottish Police College to ministers – but was instead written to by the Scottish Police Services Authority.

"These young recruits deserve the best training and the police should be getting the money they need to ensure the very highest standards," Mr Baker added.

"No wonder ministers got the SPSA to answer these questions rather than answer themselves. They have admitted that they are trying to do police training on the cheap."

A Scottish Government spokesman said that "significant work" is being undertaken at the Scottish Police College in training record numbers of new police officers.

The SPSA had previously met the costs of the additional training through efficiencies made elsewhere in its operations, the spokesman said.

But he added: "We are planning to provide them with an additional £1.5 million in 2009/10 in recognition that this is not sustainable in the long-term.

"The Justice Secretary has visited Tulliallan and met new recruits who are passing out of the police college.

"These officers are now part of the record number of officers serving in our communities, tackling crime and reassuring our citizens."

Scottish Police Services Authority Chief kept 999 blue lights on car

Keeping the trinkets & titles of duty doesn’t go down well all the time as Scottish Police Services Authority Chief David Mulhern finds out :

The Sunday Mail reports :

Former police chief keeps illegal 999 lights on car

By Norman Silvester

A FORMER police chief is breaking the law in his £30,000 five series BMW - by sporting flashing blue lights.

David Mulhern, 51, retired from the force to join the Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA) as chief executive.

But he kept his BMW with two blue lights on the front grille and siren.

Only serving officers and emergency workers can have the lights.

The civil servant is risking a £2000 fine.

Road traffic investigator George Gilfillan said: "Only an emergency vehicle can can be fitted with a blue warning light.

"If this car was behind me I'd think it was a police car."

Mulhern left Central Scotland Police in late 2006 to take up his post.

He drives from his home in Glasgow's west end to his city office and meetings across Scotland.

Mulhern is responsible for the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, the Fingerprint Service, Forensic Services and the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan, with an annual budget of £80million.

There has been friction between the SPSA and some senior officers over claims of interference.

Mulhern said: "The car was secured by SPSA from Central Scotland Police when I moved into this post.

"Its capabilities have never been used in that time and I have taken immediate steps to have the horn and lights disabled and removed altogether."