The SNP has been slammed for breaking a manifesto promise over plans to cut spending on police services over the course of the current parliament.
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes set out the government's plans for the next four years and while there are rises in spending for the NHS and social security the justice budget will be frozen until 2026/27.
Pensions will rise in the department, however it means police, fire, prisons and courts will likely see a real terms cut to their budgets.
The move has been slammed by Calum Steele, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation which represents officers in Scotland.
He said Police Scotland could "only dream" of returning to pre-pandemic levels of officers across the country.
Steele told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I think fundamentally there's a really important political question to ask which is why the government has not maintained its manifesto commitment.
"It's not little over 12 months since going into the last Scottish elections that the SNP had writ large in its manifesto a commitment to protect the police resources budget in real terms for the entirety of the next parliament.
"As police officers we are more than used to people being economic with the truth with us. We just don't expect that to come from our government.
"The reality of the police service and the size of the police service as a consequence of pandemic is that we are much smaller now than we were pre-pandemic.
"We would only dream of returning to pre-pandemic level of police officers, that would see an additional 630 police officers.
"The police service, probably uniquely across the whole of the public sector, is the one which has undertaken a major reform that the finance secretary was mentioning in her communications yesterday.
"To see the potential for reductions in the revenue budget, at least 8% possibly even more if inflation doesn't come under control, will face exceptional pressure on the police service."
Steele added that crime is already on the rise in Scotland and it could get worse with the real term cut.
He said: "Crime is already going up and violent crime is going up.
"We know from members of the public that we speak to that they are tolerating far more levels of disorder than was ever the case before.
"Many of our remote and rural communities no longer phone the police because they know it's going to take the police too long to get there or they will try to deal with the matter on the phone or online."
SNP manifesto
The SNP's 2021 Scottish Parliament election manifesto read: "Supporting the police system in Scotland to protect vulnerable people, tackle crime, and work with communities for a safe, protected and resilient Scotland is one of our key priorities.
"We will protect the police resource budget in real terms for the entirety of the next parliament."
Speaking at Holyrood yesterday, Forbes said: "It is essential to share high-level financial parameters with public bodies, local government and the third sector, so we can plan ahead together.
"Today I set out an ambitious but realistic public spending framework for the years ahead. It does not ignore the realities of our financial position, but neither does it roll back on our ambitions for change."
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