POLICE have revealed the total cost of their probe into the SNP’s finances exceeds the allegedly missing amount which is under investigation.
Data obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request shows the force estimated it has spent around £100,000 more in taxpayers’ cash than the £600,000 "missing" from party coffers.
Taking into account its pensions and National Insurance contributions, this takes the force’s total expenditure on the investigation is likely to exceed £700,000.
In response to an FOI request submitted by retired Royal Bank of Scotland employee Gordon Jackson, the force revealed it had spent an estimated £43,981.03 on overtime costs in connection with the investigation – on top of an estimated £551,662.53 on salary costs up to the end of March this year.
This totals £595,643.56 in costs associated with the probe, minus pension and national insurance contributions.
The force gave its salary estimates based on the “top point of each ranks’ pay scale”.
The 67-year-old from Liberton, Edinburgh, asked the police for details on whether it held information on the number of temporary structures the force owns – such as that erected outside Nicola Sturgeon’s home in April when her husband Peter Murrell was arrested – but was stonewalled.
The force said it did not hold the information centrally and refused on the grounds it would be either too time consuming or costly to collate the data.
Their response added that Police Scotland had bought eight disaster shelters.
These are different from the forensic tent which was set up outside Murrell’s home when he was arrested.
Jackson said the force’s failure to hold this data centrally put the force in breach of their obligations as a public agency.
He said: “Here we have them investigating the SNP for having £600,000 worth of missing assets, ie liquid assets, money, which they’re not able to account for when they [the police] spent over £600,000 in cash for police officers to investigate that and can’t account for their assets.
“Should they not be subject now to an inquiry into why they can’t account for their assets?”
A police spokesperson said: “As the investigation is ongoing we are unable to comment further.”
