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: 05 December 2022

SPA win Public Finance 2022 Award

Public Finance Awards 2022

Topic: Budget

The Scottish Police Authority's Audit and Risk Team has won the Good Governance, Risk Management or Prevention category in the 2022 Public Finance Awards.

The winning SPA team with SPA Vice Chair, Jane Ryder

Congratulations also to the COP26 Finance and Procurement Team at Police Scotland who were awarded Finance Team of the Year - Central Government and National Bodies.

The Public Finance Awards 2022, now in their sixth year, recognise achievements within the public finance and governance sector. The Awards, organised by Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and Public Finance, recognise the people, products and services that demonstrate excellence and originality within public finance.

The panel of judges said: "This entry displayed a real success story. Excellent achievement and well evidenced, driving forward a failing area and successfully turning this round."

Congratulations to all involved in delivering this award-winning improvement.

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SPA win Public Finance 2022 Award