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

Publication Library

The Authority is committed to conducting its activity in an open and transparent manner, and in a way that builds trust and confidence in policing.

In this section we aim to make as much of our information as possible available, accessible and searchable. Our publication scheme summarises all of the information we publish. This aims to improve public access to the information we hold and encouraging public awareness of, and participation in, the decisions we make.

Where possible we provide a suitable HTML alternative and / or make documents accessible. Please contact us if you would like to request a corporate publication in an alternative format.

Scottish Police Authority - Publication Scheme

Committee

Topic

Forensic Services Financial Monitoring Report Q4 - 8 May 2025

Published: 05 May 2025

Publication Forensics Services Committee

View Publication

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Drug Driving Update - 8 May 2025

Published: 05 May 2025

Publication Forensics Services Committee

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Forensic Services Performance Report – Quarter 4 2024/25 - 8 May 2025

Published: 05 May 2025

Publication Forensics Services Committee

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Forensic Services Director’s Report - 8 May 2025

Published: 05 May 2025

Publication Forensics Services Committee

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FOI 2025/26-002R - Correspondence regarding Assistant Chief Constable pay

Published: 05 May 2025

Publication

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Board Objectives 2025-26

Published: 30 April 2025

Publication

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SPA Equality & Diversity Employment Monitoring & Analysis 2024

Published: 30 April 2025

Publication People Committee

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Police Scotland EDI Employment Monitoring Report - 31 March 2024

Published: 30 April 2025

Publication

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EDI Mainstreaming and Equality Outcomes Progress Report 2023-2025

Published: 30 April 2025

Publication

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Joint Equality Outcomes for Policing 2025-2029

Published: 30 April 2025

Publication

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Discussion Paper on the Potential Adoption of Live Facial Recognition by Police Scotland

Published: 25 April 2025

Publication Policing Performance Committee

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FOI 2025/26-001 - Complaints received from police officers about the provision of single-sex, unisex, or gender neutral spaces

Published: 24 April 2025

Publication

View Publication

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Publication Library

Forensic Services Financial Monitoring Report Q4 - 8 May 2025

Drug Driving Update - 8 May 2025

Forensic Services Performance Report – Quarter 4 2024/25 - 8 May 2025

Forensic Services Director’s Report - 8 May 2025

FOI 2025/26-002R - Correspondence regarding Assistant Chief Constable pay

Board Objectives 2025-26

SPA Equality & Diversity Employment Monitoring & Analysis 2024

Police Scotland EDI Employment Monitoring Report - 31 March 2024

EDI Mainstreaming and Equality Outcomes Progress Report 2023-2025

Joint Equality Outcomes for Policing 2025-2029

Discussion Paper on the Potential Adoption of Live Facial Recognition by Police Scotland

FOI 2025/26-001 - Complaints received from police officers about the provision of single-sex, unisex, or gender neutral spaces