Martyn Evans and Lynn Brown, chairman and chief executive of the SPA respectively, will also give evidence at the commission’s Scottish pre-budget review.

Shona Robison, the SNP’s finance secretary, last month revealed emergency spending cuts of £500m for this financial year and is expected to announce further cuts in the 2025/26 Scottish Budget, which will be revealed in December .

But the number of police officers in Scotland has already fallen to its lowest level in 15 years, with the total falling by almost 400 in the year to 30 June. The force had 27 fewer officers than in March 2007, just before the SNP took power.

Police Scotland previously announced it was launching a pilot in north-east Scotland which would see some “minor” crimes not investigated if they were deemed to require excessive manpower.

“Front Line Damage”

The force’s submission to the committee said: “If funding is not sufficient, there would be significant operational consequences and both officer and staff numbers would be reduced in a way that would affect our frontline capability.”

It said the Scottish Government “asked us to model two scenarios”, the first looking at a fixed cash settlement. This means the force would receive the same money as this year, without an increase to take account of inflation.

The force would have to “absorb” the cost of the annual pay rise, the submission said, meaning “savings” would have to be made elsewhere. This would “severely” affect planned reforms to improve the service, he warned.

The second modeled scenario of a three per cent cut “would have serious operational consequences, causing significant disruption to frontline services and compromising our ability to deliver effective policing services across Scotland”.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Work is underway on the 2025/2026 Budget, which will be published on December 4.

“We will continue to work with Police Scotland and the Police Authority of Scotland to identify options to address the current financial challenges while protecting service delivery to ensure we continue to have a safe, secure and resilient country.”