MSPs agree the general principles of the Budget Bill, following the announcement of an SNP/Green deal yesterday
65 MSPs backed the principles, with 54 voting against them
The deal includes the setting up of a free bus travel scheme for under-19s
Local authorities are to get an extra £95m going
£18m goes to police services and £45m to low carbon projects
Image source, Police ScotlandIain Livingstone was a popular appointment as chief constable
The public audit committee will next hear from:
Image source, GETTY IMAGESSusan Deacon resigned as chairwoman of Scotland's police watchdog, saying the system is "fundamentally flawed".
The former Labour MSP was appointed to the Scottish Police Authority in 2017.
But in her resignation letter, she said there was "little more" she could do to make the governance and accountability of policing work effectively.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon rejected opposition claims the police service was "in crisis" and said the SPA would continue to make improvements.
Prof Deacon was the third person to chair the SPA since it began work in April 2013 alongside the launch of Scotland's single police service.
SNP MSP Willie Coffey invites Susan Deacon to say something positive about her two years as SPA chair, as public will be aghast at what they've heard this morning.
Ms Deacon says stabilising the leadership of Police Scotland was key when she came into post.
She stresses Scotland has an "excellent police service", but the governance and accountability could be better.
"I’m very proud of having spent two years working closely with the police service."
She was pleased to appoint the chief constable, who is up giving evidence next, and she stresses things are now much more sustainable.
However we have to keep developing and improving, she says.
Ms Deacon tells the committee she stepped away from the SPA because she didn’t think the system was working or doing what it was supposed to do.
Susan Deacon says it is "bizarre" the government is going forward with another round of SPA appointments when there is still confusion and a lack of clarity on what the role of the chair is.
Looking back on her experience, she tells MSPs there were plenty of ad hoc discussions with government on how to manage the workload.
The question isn't about time input, she explains, but rather about what roles should be and how they should be performed.
David Crichton tells the committee a review was commissioned on the role of chair to ensure it was clear going into the next appointment.
Ms Deacon insists it is still not clear what needs to be done, by who and how.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Tory MSP Liam Kerr pivots to corporate function and asks how work on this is progressing.
The Auditor General remains concerned about the SPA's capacity and capability to carry out its corporate functions such as long-term workforce, IT and financial planning.
"There is progress being made," replies Mr Crichton.
Lynn Brown says in terms of the improvement plan it is 80% complete.
She argues the staff should be commended on their resilience.
Mr Crichton points out there are only 11 SPA members when there should be 15.
"I think we have a very strong and resilient board," he adds.
He stresses the need to appoint a permanent chief executive and adds it is for government to appoint a new chair, but no advert has been published yet.
The SPA was set up to hold Police Scotland to account when the single force replaced the old eight-force model in 2013.
The Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, external set out its five core functions:
Chaired by a board, the SPA's members are local councillors and this year it held 19 public board meetings across the country. It also holds private committee meetings which cover areas such as forensic services and complaints and conduct.
SNP MSP Colin Beattie presses the SPA on the lack of a workforce plan
Mr Crichton tells the committee: "The delay in preparing a workforce plan is unacceptable, there is no sugar coating that."
The SPA vice chair says the fundamental responsibility has to lie with Police Scotland to carry out that review and the authority's role is to keep pushing for that to happen.
He points out there are 17,234 police officers but there is not enough funding to maintain this.
Mr Crichton says the chief constable is committed to providing a workforce plan by November of this year.
Image source, bbcSPA vice chair David Crichton says a workforce plan is due in November
Jenny Marra asks: "Why on earth Police Scotland are taking evidence from the NHS on workforce planning?"
"It doesn't sound terribly robust to me," says SNP MSP Colin Beattie.
"Your position as SPA is extremely difficult in terms of budgeting and so on, and financial planning if you haven't got a Scoobie as to what the police are going to be doing and using the money for."
Mr Crichton again says the delay in the delivery of the workforce plan is unacceptable.
Image source, bbcThe Scottish Police Authority said the deficit of £49m will create huge challenges for the force
Police Scotland is facing an "unsustainable" financial deficit, despite receiving more money than expected in this month's budget.
The Scottish budget allocated an extra £37m to the force, almost double what it had expected.
But the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) said that still leaves an unsustainable deficit of £49m.
The concerns are detailed in a paper, which will be discussed at an SPA meeting in Stirling on Wednesday.
Reducing police officer numbers, which has been discussed, might help cut costs.
But vice-chairman David Crichton said the cash allocated for capital programmes - IT, vehicles and buildings - is not enough to provide investment to achieve efficiencies.
Jenny Marra says there seems to be a "bit of a pantomime" around arrangements and asks why wouldn't the SPA be open to a much more transparent process.
Mr Crichton says the SPA is open to this, but what is needed most of all is stability and clarity.
He expresses concern instability would be prolonged while any review was underway.
Tory MSP Liam Kerr asks where the attitude of "move along nothing to see here" is coming from.
Susan Deacon replies: "I think that government and the SPA both have been overly reassuring and - I'm sorry I'm going to say it - I think really quite disingenuous about the extent of some of the issues and the lack of clarity in the system.
"And I think it did speak volumes that there was so little response to the very considered and rounded view that the auditor general expressed on this."
Ms Deacon accepts it is much easier for her to speak freely from outside the system, but these are matters of public interest that must be addressed.
The legislation went through parliament very quickly and now the minister says that was not the case despite it being accepted by everyone, she adds.
Scotland's eight police forces were merged into a single national service after the Police and Fire Reform Bill, external was passed in 2012.
There needs to be a rounded, thorough piece of work about how the police systems works in the future, Ms Deacon adds.
Image source, Getty ImagesPolice Scotland is the second biggest police force in the UK after the Met
Susan Deacon resigned as chairwoman of the Scottish Police Authority, saying the system of police accountability is "fundamentally flawed". The SPA was only established in 2013, but it has travelled a rocky road.
The announcement by Prof Deacon, a former Labour MSP, came just days after the credibility of the Scottish Police Authority was publicly questioned at Holyrood.
Gill Imery, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS), told MSPs senior officers had become "frustrated" by the lack of scrutiny from the SPA.
In the middle of a general election campaign the comments were barely picked up by the media, but they may have proved the final straw for Prof Deacon.
Ms Imery told the justice committee on Tuesday that Chief Constable Iain Livingstone had asked HMICS to inspect various functions within the force because the SPA had failed to do so.
Mr Neil wonders whether the SPA should be appointed by parliament rather than government.
The SNP MSP also wonders how many people the SPA currently employs as opposed to Police Scotland.
Lynn Brown, interim chief executive of the SPA, confirms it is an establishment of 50 with 37 in post, four secondees from government and one outside expert.
David Crichton says there is no "obvious in principle" decision on who appoints the SPA and this would be a choice for parliament and government.
We are still talking about a relatively young system and arrangements are evolving he adds.
Who would be best placed to carry out a review, asks Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur.
Ms Deacon says she is reticent to say who that should be.
She says what has taken place since she left the post of chair of the SPA has not been good enough.
The former SPA chair praises the review of police complaints, conduct and investigation issues carried out by former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini.
However whether the same model of review would work here, she is not sure.
"Independence and transparency is key," she adds.
Dame Elish called for changes in the way complaints against senior police officers are handled
Committee convener Jenny Marra wonders if the SPA is successfully acting as a buffer between Police Scotland and government.
Ms Deacon says the SPA is intertwined with Scottish government and she says it is important to question what having an independent authority means.
I'm not saying these things are "sinister" but a system has developed which is "full of clutter and confusion and government involvement", she tells MSPs.
The former SPA chair goes on to describe a "muddying of the waters" and a "democratic deficit" in arrangements as they stand.
The fact that it is an arm of government militates against a better relationship with parliament and there are questions over whether ministerial appointments are the best way of deciding who fills the role, she adds.
Ms Deacon agrees it is important to have a buffer, but in practice the separation of the police and ministers does not happen.
She tells the committee, as far as she can see, there has been a "deafening silence" from the government in terms of the auditor general's remarks.
The former SPA chief says the fact is it is just not working as intended, with all sorts of fundamental issues remaining.
She says there are questions about where the accountable officer sits and where forensics fits into the system. These questions are still being asked after seven years she adds.
"There is just not clarity around this."
Mr Neil calls for more clarity in terms of governance and asks if two bodies are actually necessary.
Mr Crichton says the purpose of having a police authority was to establish a buffer between the police service and government.
The SPA is also there to hold the police service to account, he adds.
SNP MSP Alex Neil
SNP MSP Alex Neil suggests the key recommendation was to review the whole system, the "police family".
The SPA has stumbled from crisis to crisis in the past but in the last few years it has been a lot more stable, he says.
He insists now is the time to look at how the various policing bodies relate to one another, asking whether the SPA supports this recommendation.
Mr Crichton says he welcomes the recommendation, accepting it is a complex and multi-layered system which "merits a review".
However, he insists the system is not "uniquely complex" and does not seen the need for an "existential" review.
Scottish Police Authority former chair Susan Deacon
Scottish Police Authority former chair Susan Deacon welcomes the comments of the auditor general when she called for a review of the systems of governance as a whole.
Ms Deacon says the one thing that is clear is there is no agreement about how the system should actually work.
The cluttered landscape was put in place at some pace, Ms Deacon points out.
She quotes Einstein: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Ms Deacon reiterates her call for a wide ranging review.
Image source, GETTY IMAGESSusan Deacon resigned as chairwoman of Scotland's police watchdog, saying the system is "fundamentally flawed".
The former Labour MSP was appointed to the Scottish Police Authority in 2017.
But in her resignation letter, she said there was "little more" she could do to make the governance and accountability of policing work effectively.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon rejected opposition claims the police service was "in crisis" and said the SPA would continue to make improvements.
Prof Deacon was the third person to chair the SPA since it began work in April 2013 alongside the launch of Scotland's single police service.