Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that Police Scotland has the capacity, training and resources to respond effectively to explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) incidents in Scotland, including improving coordination with UK military EOD units to reduce response times and bolster public safety.
Officer training and the associated resources and capacity in how Police Scotland respond to incidents involving unexploded ordnance are operational policing decisions for the Chief Constable, under the scrutiny of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), as is how they work with other agencies on this issue.
It is for the Chief Constable, working with the working with the Scottish Police Authority, to determine how to allocate its budget to meet policing priorities including the provision of all necessary training. For the last ten years, the Scottish Government has increased the SPA budget year on year. We will invest record funding of over £1.7 billion for policing in 2026-27, a total budget increase of £81.5m or 5% compared to the published 2025-26 Autumn Budget Revision (ABR) budget.