Policing Performance Committee

The formal minute of the items of business will be available at the meeting scheduled for March 2024. This will also be published on the SPA’s website. A full recording of the items of business taken at this meeting can be accessed at
Policing Performance Committee - 6 December 2023 | Scottish Police Authority (spa.police.uk)
MAIN ITEMS OF BUSINESS
- Performance and Improvement Reporting
- Public Confidence and Partnership Activity
- Operational Policing Issues

KEY ISSUES RAISED
Performance Reporting and Improvement Activity

• The Q2 Performance report was discussed at length and Members welcomed the inclusion of an increased level of disaggregated data which had been requested to provide additional insight to support their oversight and scrutiny.
• The Committee welcomed the inclusion of local experience captured by the Your Police Survey in the development of revised Local Police Plans.
• The increase in acquisitive crimes was highlighted as a concern. Police Scotland gave assurance that they were engaging with retailers to explore ways in which shoplifting, anti-social behaviour and violence against retail staff can be tackled. The Committee supported this approach and endorsed coordination between Local Policing Teams, Local Authorities and local businesses to develop action plans.
• Members sought assurance on actions to address the increase in online fraud cases and decreased detections whilst recognising the growing volume of demand and the complexities in detecting these crimes. Police Scotland committed to a continued focus on these crimes.
• Police Scotland colleagues agreed with Members reflection that the update on delivery of the Annual Police Plan needed to be improved through better tracking of progress milestones and achievements to demonstrate continuous service improvement. Building on previous comments in this regard Members were clear that the next iteration of the Plan must be specific in its alignment with what the organisation aims to achieve, what it has achieved, and articulates recovery actions when progress is not as planned.
• Members endorsed the paper which provided local authority level detail on key crime groups and detection rates, recognising the value of understanding local variation often hidden by national statistics. Police Scotland colleagues recognised this set the bar for reporting and committed to increased local reporting going forward and acknowledged the value of this data to local command teams in resource planning and sharing best practice.
• The Committee congratulated the Independent Custody Visiting Team on winning a Gold Accreditation Award from the Independent Custody Visiting Association. Members valued the vital contribution to upholding detainee human rights brought by volunteers and thanked all visitors.
• Members expressed concern that access to washing and showering facilities remained an issue within the custody estate. Police Scotland agreed this was not acceptable and committed to work to identify a solution to this issue as a matter of the highest priority.

Public Confidence and Partnership Activity

• The Committee endorsed the ongoing partnership approach with SIPR and other research agencies in order to inform horizon scanning and evidence-based decision making. Members highlighted the Joint Evidence and Research Forum as the key coordinating forum for prioritisation and driving impact in this area.
• Members recognised the ongoing focus on children’s rights demonstrated in both the SPA and Police Scotland Corporate Parenting plans and acknowledged that there has been much progress in this area, particularly regarding those in conflict with the law and those from a care experienced background.
• Key areas of focus highlighted by COSLA included the financial challenges across public service and in particular the impact of anti-social behaviour in communities.
• Members reflected the HMICS Thematic Review on Policing Mental Health in Scotland was consistent with the call for a whole system approach emerging from the Authority event convened in December 2022. The report recognises the complexity, challenges and interdependencies which need to be addressed when preventing crisis and in supporting those at mental health crisis points. All agreed that a whole system approach is required. Police Scotland will report on progress against the recommendations as part of this system wide partnership approach.

Operational Policing Policy
• Members considered progress against the recommendations resulting from recent Custody Inspections in Lanarkshire and Tayside. Members sought and received assurance that work to reshape the current custody estate will be aligned to the Local Policing Service Delivery Review and the Estates Improvement activity.
• Members were updated on the progress being made through the Local Policing Service Delivery Review to assess the as is state of local policing to support a future improvement programme underpinned by the learning from this extensive discovery phase. Members highlighted the importance of ensuring this work was coordinated with the improvement activity under other ACC led portfolios.
• Members considered updates on the effectiveness of several operational or tactical approaches including, the National Approach to Missing Persons and Reducing Demand, use of TASER and the use of Stop and Search. In considering all these updates, the Committee encouraged Police Scotland to focus on demonstrating these tactics were consistent with the rights-based approach, the relevant code of practice and to bring forward evidence that these approaches improved safety and wellbeing and are subject to appropriate safeguards and checks and balances.

Conclusions Reached

Performance reporting to this committee continues to develop and increasingly promotes public trust, confidence and understanding of the challenges facing Police Scotland and the prioritised actions being taken forward.

The oversight and scrutiny of the Committee will focus on challenging and supporting decision making in respect of the coordinated and prioritised allocation of resources and policing priorities in Scotland.

A clearer articulation of what the organisation is seeking to achieve, how it is addressing the challenges, how this work is coordinated, what the benefit to the public has been through delivery of improvement activity and what remains to be done, will further enhance trust confidence and understanding of both the public and key strategic partners.