Armed police in court battle over pay for guarding Royal Family in Scotland

ARMED police are embroiled in a bitter legal battle over pay for guarding the Royal Family while they holiday in Scotland.

Cash-strapped Police Scotland has refused to hand over enhanced payments to officers over the past two summers to protect the Queen and her family while they take a break in the Highlands.

The move has angered officers, rocked by the recent death of PC Keith Palmer who was killed while on duty during the Westminster attack.

The officers spend their working week at the Balmoral estate during the summer, potentially putting their lives on the line while miles from their families and loved ones.

Traditionally, the force would stump up extra payments for officers because they were so far away from home and remained “on call”.

But senior ranks have scrapped the “held in reserve” payments for watching royalty as they battle to close a reported £190m funding gap by 2020/21.

It has led to an officer, who is backed by the Scottish Police Federation, raising a judicial review of the decision at Scotland’s highest civil court, the Court of Session.

The legal move – which sees a judge review a decision made by an administrative body like a council or a police force – has been brought by an officer, who helps guard the Royal Family when they are north of the Border.

Alongside Royal Protection Officers and officers from the London-based Metropolitan Police, Scottish officers like the PC bringing the case provide protection for the Royals at an estimated cost of more than £100m a year to the taxpayer.

A judgment on the acrimonious row is expected within weeks after being heard in court late last year.

Sources close to the landmark case say the move will have ramifications for hundreds of police officers, including nearly 400 in Scotland who are armed.

One unnamed officer said: “We are not happy about the situation.

“In the current terror climate and with the death of PC Keith Palmer, all officers feel they should be paid accordingly for what they are doing, especially if that means working away from home for operational duties and being on call.

“We make a lot of sacrifices for doing the job. There’s lots of unpaid work.

“We previously got ‘held in reserve’ payments so why not now?”

Before the amalgamation of Scottish police forces in 2013, providing police protection to the Royal Family – at Balmoral and places like the Queen Mother’s summer house at the Castle of Mey in Caithness – fell to Scotland’s former eight regional police forces.

Because the officers were already living in the region it meant they could return home after duty, so they didn’t qualify for the payments.

The “held in reserve” payments are enshrined in rules by the Police Negotiating Board, who agrees the terms and conditions for Scottish police officers.

But the row comes down to Police Scotland’s interpretation of whether the armed officers at Balmoral qualify for it, which it’s claimed they don’t.

It is understood Police Scotland previously made “held in reserve” payments to officers for working at the Royal Deeside residence in 2014.

Scotish Police Federation general secretary Callum Steele said: “This is a significant issue for our officers.

“The force has changed its approach to the reimbursement of officers and we are challenging it.

“We have tried to resolve this long before the Court of Sessions action but feel little option but to go down the legal route.”

A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “We will not comment on this as it involves an active legal case.”