Figures show scale of Police Scotland's informant payouts

Police Scotland paid more than £1.3m to informants over the past five years, the second highest total in the UK, the Scotsman reports today.

Figures obtained under freedom of information law by the University of Portsmouth Journalism Department show that payments by the national force totalled £1,342,915 since 2014, putting it second behind the Metropolitan police (£4,360,000) but ahead of forces such as West Midlands (£925,801) and Thames Valley (£749,850). 

The most paid in a single year was £319,754 in 2016-17.

Individual payments were not disclosed, the force claiming reasons of national security and the need to preserve the integrity of ongoing investigations.

A senior officer described the practice as "a well established, highly regulated and an independently scrutinised tactic" which was "successfully used proportionately and legitimately to support the police service in keeping people safe".