Kath Murray
Isla Bryson: a trauma-blind response in prison
The Bryson case reveals a long-standing tension in Scottish prisons policy between gender self-identification principles and trauma-informed care. For the best part of a decade this contradiction has played out in plain sight, with minimal…
Policing the gender identity debate
‘managers need to recognise that both sex and gender identity may be relevant to people’s lives, and to factor both into policy-making decisions. In this way, it should be possible to balance fairly the interests…
Revealed: ongoing costs of flawed BTP merger
‘The BTP merger isn’t what it said on the tin and, if anything, now looks like a threat to both the future of Scottish policing and railway policing on both sides of the border.’
The case for an independent review of the BTP merger
“It (review of timetable for BTP merger) needs to be independent, transparent and at arm’s length from government. Oversight by a board that is co-chaired by senior civil servants and reports to Scottish Ministers doesn’t…
Passing the baton on the BTP merger
‘Having failed to resolve these differences prior to the Act, as well as a myriad of other problems, the realities of integration are now coming to the fore, while the baton has passed to the…
Putting the BTP merger on hold (2): Crown Servants and contracts
‘With only eighteen months until integration, the fact that the status of BTP Scotland officers transferring to Police Scotland remains unresolved should ring further loud alarm bells…At this stage in the process, I’d argue that…
Putting the BTP merger on hold
‘The decision to integrate BTP in Scotland may be political; however, the merger is a matter of public safety and public money, and the Government has a duty to demonstrate that it is not taking…
Brexit on wheels – taking control of BTP functions
‘While the risks and complexities associated with extricating BTPs operations in Scotland are now coming to the fore, the advantages look increasingly distant.’
Taking the politics out of policing appointments
‘The SPA should be made accountable to the Scottish Parliament, not to Ministers, and the appointment of the Chair and Board made subject to cross-party approval. Taking the politics out policing appointments…’
Police Scotland changes course
“Policing 2026 is not an officer reduction exercise, nor is at a ‘time-bomb’. Clearly Scottish policing is facing an eye-watering deficit: around £200 million by 2020/21 at the latest estimate. Still, putting it dryly, there…
Police Scotland and failing parliamentary oversight
‘Police Scotland’s problems are by no means wholly reducible to parliamentary process. Still, it seems fair to suggest that the manner in which the Bill proceeded through the Scottish Parliament has not helped matters.’ Taking…
Integrating British Transport Police on a ‘shoogly peg’
‘It is difficult to see the logic in saddling Police Scotland with more structural upheaval,’ the author argues about the planned integration of British Transport Police. The Scottish Government is wrong to say that the…