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Police Scotland paid out £500,000 in compensation to officers who were unable to secure time off due to Donald Trump’s visit to his UK golf clubs.
A major operation was mounted as the US president spent several days in July visiting his resorts in South Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire, where he also hosted Sir Keir Starmer and Scottish first minister John Swinney.
This was followed in August with a separate visit by vice president JD Vance, who was on holiday with his family.
During a recent police meeting, deputy chief constable Jane Connors said it has been a “very busy summer for policing in Scotland” with both visits, as well as providing regular day-to-day security across the country.
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Sir Keir Starmer meeting with Trump at his resort in South Ayrshire (PA) (PA Wire)
She told a Scottish Police Authority (SPA) meeting in Glasgow on Thursday: “It does put pressure on our resources and our staff who we know are very tired after a long summer.”
It was revealed by deputy chief constable Alan Speirs that the force had spent £500,000 in July alone to “buy back” time off in lieu from officers, who had been unable to take holiday due to policing demands.
If made to cancel or skip time in lieu, officers can either receive overtime payments or have three months to claim their time off before the force buys it back from them.
He said: “Regrettably, the spend for us in the month of July alone was £0.5m because officers weren’t able to get the time back, which to me demonstrates there is a real demand on the service and it is largely through events.
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Mr Trump and Sir Keir waving as they board Air Force One in Glasgow (AFP/Getty)
“The trend around toil is quite significant, so we will continue to look at that on a monthly basis. It is a growing challenge for us, to manage that element of the budget.
“We don’t want officers at work when they should be off, so it is regrettable that we’re in that position of having to compensate them through payment for things like toil.”
Prior to Mr Trump’s visit, Tiff Lynch, national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said: “Let’s be clear: this is a private visit by a head of state to play golf.
“And we are pulling 1,500 officers—roughly a third of the size of an average police force in England and Wales—away from their normal duties to support it. That should stop anyone in their tracks.”
