Who We Are

The Scottish Police Authority is independent of both the Scottish Government and policing. It is the primary governance body for policing in Scotland, and was established as a public body on 1 April 2013 by the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. It was set up to hold the Chief Constable to account; promote, support and oversee improvement in policing. It is also responsible for the management and delivery of Forensic Services in Scotland and Independent Custody Visiting Scotland.

In this section, find out more about the Authority’s priorities, the Board and the Leadership team.

Who We Are

What We Do

The Scottish Police Authority is responsible for maintaining policing. It has four specific areas of responsibility:

promoting the policing principles

supporting continuous improvement

keeping policing under review

holding the Chief Constable to account.

This section tells you in outline what the Authority does.

What We Do

Insights

In this section, we will share insights from various individuals and organisations on some of the topical issues facing policing in Scotland or beyond.

Showing 1 to 12 of 29 results

Chief Constable Jo Farrell

Published: 26 June 2024

Policy Technology

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Women’s Trust and Confidence in the Police in Scotland

Published: 20 June 2024

Research

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Martyn Evans, Chair of the SPA sitting at a desk inside an office building.

Martyn Evans, Biometrics Conference

Published: 26 June 2024

Policy Technology

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Dr Brian Plastow, Scottish Biometrics Commissioner

Published: 26 June 2024

Policy

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Chief Constable's Update to the May Board Meeting

Published: 24 May 2024

Performance

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Authority Responds to Hate Crime Statistics

Published: 23 April 2024

Performance

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Independent Custody Visiting – Rights Based Oversight

Published: 27 March 2024

Policy Evidence Performance

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Polling show "clear support for using technology to tackle crime"

Published: 18 March 2024

Technology

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Performance Summary 2022-23

Published: 06 March 2024

Performance

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New Year Message

Published: 19 February 2024

Performance

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Authority welcomes draft budget for policing 2024-25

Published: 11 January 2024

Budget

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SASO Annual Conference November 2023 – Blog

Published: 12 December 2023

Policy

View Insight

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Insights

Chief Constable Jo Farrell

Women’s Trust and Confidence in the Police in Scotland

Martyn Evans, Biometrics Conference

Dr Brian Plastow, Scottish Biometrics Commissioner

Chief Constable's Update to the May Board Meeting

Authority Responds to Hate Crime Statistics

Independent Custody Visiting – Rights Based Oversight

Polling show "clear support for using technology to tackle crime"

Performance Summary 2022-23

New Year Message

Authority welcomes draft budget for policing 2024-25

SASO Annual Conference November 2023 – Blog