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

Published: 10 August 2022

Police Reform

Learnings in Scotland

Topic: Policy

The Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales was published on 8 March 2022.

The Strategic Review of Policing in England and Wales was published on 8 March 2022. This independent review, chaired by Sir Michael Barber and hosted by the Police Foundation, identified 53 reform recommendations for the 43 police services in England and Wales.

Police reform in Scotland started in 2013 with the formation of Police Scotland. The SPA has prepared a briefing document which outlines the background, key outputs and learnings from police reform in Scotland.

Police Reform

Article initially published 21 March 2022

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Police Reform

Learnings in Scotland

Police reform in Scotland started in 2013 with the formation of Police Scotland. The SPA has prepared a briefing document which outlines the background, key outputs and learnings from police reform in Scotland.