Police Scotland Professional Standards Quarterly Report (Q4 – 22/23)

Members were provided with a report which noted statistical information on the overarching performance activity in relation to complaints and conduct matters about members of Police Scotland for period (1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023). During discussions the following matters were raised:

ACC Alan Speirs (ACCASpeirs) advised that he would provide members with an update in relation to the Continuous Integrity Screening in the private session. ACCASpeirs advised that a public report would return to the committee in due course.

Following recent comments by the Chief Constable around institutionalised discrimination, members sought clarity on whether any previous complaints require a further review and if there would be a different approach from the team going forward. In addition members referred to assaults on officers around custody and sought clarity on whether any work had been done in corelating injury to people in custody to injury of officers. Members sought clarity on whether there is a process available to allow compliments to be paid to the force, noting that this would enrich the view of public perception, along with providing helpful feedback to officers and staff about their interaction with the public. ACCASpeirs advised that one of the challenges with the current database was in drawing out diversity information on both complainers and the subject of complaints. This is an area that PS want to look at and an area that they have already discussed with PIRC. ACCASpeirs advised that whilst they wait for system updates, he would take an action to review this area and return to the next committee with an update. ACCASpeirs assured members that assaults on officers around custody is an area being scrutinised through a number of forums within PS. PS draw compliment data via the User Satisfaction and Confidence Surveys where they are engaging with 1000-1200 people per month. Chief Superintendent Catriona Henderson (CSCHenderson) added that there is work being done with IT to refresh the PS website in order to make this an area available to the public. There is also benchmarking being done around this with other forces in an effort to inform and develop the picture in relation to public satisfaction.

Grant Macrae (GMacrae) sought clarity on how this new report would flow into the annual report and ACCASpeirs advised that he would engage with the team to ensure that this information is fed into the Annual Report.

The Chair noted the importance of ensuring that as a result of the progress being made with this report, there is a need to remember previously discharged recommendations from the Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing to ensure no recommendations have been reversed in terms of the data being presented. The Chair asked that SPA colleagues review this to ensure that no areas have been overlooked.

The Chair further requested that within the report where it highlights complaints received by command area, it would be beneficial from a reference point perspective to have the number of officers within each area marked on the report.

The Chair referred to PIRC referrals and number not investigated by PIRC and advised she would be keen to understand the timings associated with referrals to understand how long people need to wait to find out if their referral will be investigated or not and the impact on PS. ACCASpeirs advised that the decision on when PIRC will investigate is taken fairly quickly. PS then take time to gather information in relation to the referral within 14 days. The biggest impact on PS is when there are instances of Article 3 and Article 5 due to the associated timescales being slower and this is where consideration needs to be given to those officers that are subject to those types of allegations. Phil Chapman (PChapman) provided members with an overview on the PIRC handling of referrals along with informing them of potential changes to process within the PIRC that are currently being reviewed which will hopefully streamline the processes associated with referrals.

Members NOTED the report and AGREED the following actions:

20230106-CCC-004: Assistant Chief Constable Alan Speirs to ensure that a public report in relation to Continuous Integrity Screening returns to the committee in due course.

20230106-CCC-005: Assistant Chief Constable Alan Speirs to give consideration to how diversity information can be drawn on for both officers and complainers in the absence of a system update.

20230106-CCC-006: Assistant Chief Constable Alan Speirs to engage with SPA colleagues to ensure the data within this report filters thorough to the committee annual report.

20230106-CCC-007: Darren Paterson to review and ensure that no recommendations noted within the Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing have been reversed as a result of the new data being presented by Police Scotland.

20230106-CCC-008: Assistant Chief Constable Alan Speirs to ensure that the number of officers for each command area is highlighted when referring to complaints received within each command area