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

Complaints

Are you dissatisfied with the service you have received from policing in Scotland?

The Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and the Police Investigations and Reviews Commissioner (PIRC) all have a role to play in considering complaints about policing in Scotland.

In this section, find out who to direct your complaint to. We also welcome written communication in Gaelic (see our Gaelic Language Plan).

Complaints

News

The Scottish Police Authority communicates regularly about our role, activities and oversight of policing in Scotland.

You can find all our latest news articles listed in date order. You can also search these by topic or year.

Showing 1 to 9 of 9 results

PEEL Practice Compendium – February 2025 Update

Published: 19 February 2025

Policy Performance Evidence

View Article

Lanarkshire mental health response

Published: 13 August 2024

Evidence Workforce

View Article

SPA Custody Review 2020-21 Published

Published: 07 February 2023

Evidence

View Article

Human Rights policing focus of Advisory Group ‘Added Confidence’

Published: 03 February 2023

Evidence

View Article

Policing of protests and gatherings "professional and proportionate"

Published: 03 February 2023

Performance Evidence

View Article

SPA evidence to Justice Sub Committee on drones and body worn video

Published: 02 February 2023

Technology Evidence

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Latest factsheet on public confidence polling

Published: 18 April 2023

Evidence

View Article

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High public trust in Scottish policing

Published: 18 April 2023

Evidence

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Independent Custody Visiting Scotland Covid 19 update

Published: 18 April 2023

Workforce Evidence

View Article

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News

PEEL Practice Compendium – February 2025 Update

Lanarkshire mental health response

SPA Custody Review 2020-21 Published

Human Rights policing focus of Advisory Group ‘Added Confidence’

Policing of protests and gatherings "professional and proportionate"

SPA evidence to Justice Sub Committee on drones and body worn video

Latest factsheet on public confidence polling

High public trust in Scottish policing

Independent Custody Visiting Scotland Covid 19 update