Further Information

Correspondence with Criminal Justice Committee

Members will recall that the Authority has been corresponding with the Criminal Justice Committee on a range of issues including mental health in policing, officer wellbeing and our review of Ill Health Retiral and Injury of Duty processes following backlogs. We made several commitments last year to keep the committee sighted on improvements and progress on these matters. The most recent correspondence providing an update on improvements to date was submitted in January 2024.

Police Appeal Tribunals

The Police Appeals Tribunals are administered by the Authority. Police Appeals Tribunals hear appeals from police officers against decisions to dismiss them, or to demote them in rank, because of misconduct proceedings brought against them.

Each Police Appeals Tribunal is made up of three independent lawyers chosen from a pool appointed by the Lord President of the Court of Session. The appeals process is governed by the Police Appeals Tribunals (Scotland) Rules 2013. Rule 12 states that hearings must be heard in public unless the tribunal with the consent of the parties, directs that a hearing, or part of it, is to be heard in private.

The Police Appeals Tribunals to date have been held in public but the Authority is endeavouring to promote the visibility and transparency of the hearings. Therefore, the Authority has put in place a protocol outlining the procedures for holding Police Appeals Tribunals in public. This is appended to my report at Appendix A. Key stakeholders, including staff associations have been consulted on the new procedures which will be applied to all appeals to a Police Appeals Tribunals arising from misconduct proceedings which commenced on or after 1 January 2024.

HMICS Validated Self-Assessment

Members are aware that HMICS was scheduled to undertake a light touch assessment of the Authority’s corporate function following its more detailed Thematic Inspection in 2019. The focus of the HMICS assessment is the effectiveness of the Authority’s new arrangements, its continuous improvement and its core role and governance approach. It was agreed that the Authority would undertake a self-assessment process which HMICS would validate. The objectives, scope and methodology for this work are set out in correspondence sent to me in December 2023. I have appended this to my report at Appendix B.

The basis of the Authority’s self-assessment has been our annual self-assessment against the seven Best Value themes described in the Scottish Government’s guidance for Accountable Officers. This work was reported to the Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee in November 2023. This has been supplemented with further detail and evidence for HMICS in relation to the Authority’s overall improvement journey since the last inspection in 2019.

The Authority has provided a wealth of evidence to support the evaluation and we are meeting weekly with HMICS to address any further requests. I am grateful to HMICS for the ongoing dialogue and support. HMICS will interview a number of Board members and Authority staff throughout February 2024 and we expect the findings to be published by HMICS in the Spring.

Mental Health, Vulnerability and Policing

The Authority’s work in relation to mental health, vulnerability and policing continues. A Mental Health Distress Partnership Delivery Group has now been established as a time limited delivery group with membership from the Scottish Government, Police Scotland and the Authority. The group will meet monthly to coordinate the range of activities currently underway in relation to the policing system’s response to mental health distress.

These activities align to, and supplement, the policing system response to recommendations from the recently published HMICS thematic review of policing mental health in Scotland. The group will be focused on addressing issues identified within the review to reduce the demand on policing, in particular, the need for police officers to attend at and remain within Emergency Departments, often for prolonged periods.

A series of local area partnership workshops are planned for March and April 2024 to explore the different approaches in place in different localities, identify best practice, and discuss continuing challenges. These workshops will involve NHS practitioners, social care and police representatives, and will be facilitated by the Authority and Scottish Government.

A summary of progress will be reported through individual organisational governance routes. Formal reporting of progress will take place through the Authority’s Policing Performance Committee on a 6 monthly basis.

Performance Summary 2022/23

We have recently published a performance summary of the previous year, summarising and simplifying the content of the Annual Report and Accounts. This format is part of our ongoing work to enhance the accessibility of Authority governance, oversight and support for policing and forensic services as described in the Authority’s Corporate Strategy. This approach will continue into development of the Annual Report and Accounts for 2023/24.

Knowledge Exchange Events

Over the last two months the Authority’s corporate team have had the pleasure of hosting two knowledge exchange visits with colleague from other policing oversight bodies.

On 16 and 17 January 2024 we hosted a delegation from the Office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner. On day one of the visit the teams discussed the structures, and responsibilities of both organisations covering topics such as public confidence polling, engagement with communities and local government, benchmarking, and oversight and scrutiny of policing performance and transformation. The Authority’s corporate team, along with board member Tom Halpin, also learned more about the development of the West Midlands Fairness and Belonging Strategy and the work of the OPCC on understanding disproportionality. Day two was focused on a visit to Levenmouth, to meet with representatives of the local community confidence project team, including local divisional reps and partners. I want to thank our OPCC colleagues for taking the time to visit the Authority, and look forward to further discussions on areas of learning and sharing practice.

A further knowledge exchange visit took place on 15 and 16 February 2024 with the executive team from the Policing Authority for the Republic of Ireland. Over the two-day visit colleagues discussed community safety and relationships with community safety partnerships at a local and national level, benchmarking, community confidence, academic partnerships such as SIPR, and the Authority’s Independent Custody Visiting Scheme. I also had the opportunity for a discussion with Chief Executive Helen Hall on engagement with staff associations, policy directions and upcoming structural changes in the Republic of Ireland. The visit also allowed Policing Authority colleagues to meet with HMI Craig Naylor and team to understand the role of the inspectorate in Scotland. This visit is the continuation of a programme of knowledge exchange with the Policing Authority which began last summer, with further engagement and sharing of approaches planned.

Recorded Police Warnings Seminar

Members will recall that we discussed Police Scotland’s use of Recorded Police Warnings at our Board meeting in September 2023. Following discussions with Police Scotland, an online seminar has been arranged to discuss public policy issues related to the use of recorded police warnings and other forms of diversions. We have agreed a date of Monday 8 April 2024 (13:00 – 15:00hrs). We will share more information about the session in due course.

Scottish Railways Policing Committee

A meeting of the Scottish Railways Policing Committee (SRPC) took place on Wednesday 22 November 2023 and was hosted at the Authority’s offices in Glasgow. The SPA was represented by Authority Members Tom Halpin and Mary Pitcaithly.

A full report from the November 2023 meeting is included at Appendix C. The next meeting is due to take place on Tuesday 5 March 2024.