Introduction

The Scottish Police Authority (the Authority) is a non-departmental public body based across various locations in Scotland.

We aim to build a workforce reflecting the society we serve with an inclusive culture which values and respects diversity.  Each year we publish employment monitoring data in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).  This publication continues our reporting process which supplements the key insights included within the Joint Equality and Diversity Mainstreaming and Outcomes report. 

This report assists the Authority to regularly analyse data to identify trends and required actions to support delivery of our Joint Equality Outcomes with Police Scotland.

In last year’s report we detailed how we are mainstreaming EDI activity into the delivery plan supporting the SPA Corporate Strategy 2023-26.  Relevant progress and next steps are highlighted throughout this report.

The data presented in this report covers the overall workforce profile as well as specific detail in relation to recruitment, retention, development and pay.  To ensure more meaningful reporting and comparison over time we now report most data in this report to two decimal points rather than rounding to a full percentage point.  For the purpose of this report, promotion refers to any internal member of staff who successfully applies for a role at a higher grade.  In relation to pay SPA and Police Scotland currently report on pay gaps in relation to disability, ethnicity, sex and sexual orientation and detail of these are included throughout the report.

Due to the low numbers in terms of recruitment and leavers there are limitations in the level of progress that can be made in increasing the diversity of the workforce profile year on year. 

The Authority has a specific legal duty to gather and use data in relation to recruitment, development and retention split by relevant protected characteristic.  We publish this information to demonstrate our commitment to developing an inclusive workplace and our legal responsibilities against the three aims of the general equality duty, to give due regard to the need to:

Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Act

Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it

Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

This report focuses only on employees who work directly for the SPA. As of 31 March 2023, 636 individuals were employed by the SPA, spread across SPA Corporate and SPA Forensics - both playing a key supportive role in maintaining and improving policing in Scotland.

Where available, external benchmarks have been drawn from relevant sources including data from the most recent Scottish Census in 2022 and from the 2011 census where more recent data is not yet published.

Please note the following when interpreting the data presented in this report:

Information is published in accordance with GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 and so does not identify individuals

Low numbers of staff within any characteristic group have been combined to protect anonymity

For some characteristics, this report is based on relatively small data sets which makes robust analysis challenging.  It also means that small changes could show a significant impact in terms of percentage increase/decrease

We acknowledge the existence of gaps within our data and are committed to developing our data, where possible for future reports.

Disclosure rates have remained at similar levels although there does appear to be a positive trend with yearly decreases in those choosing not to disclose.  The exception to this relates to sexual orientation, which has remained static since 2020.

We are committed to encouraging an increase in disclosure rates by providing and promoting a safe and supportive environment for our staff and being clear on how this information will be used.

In a similar approach adopted by Police Forces in England and Wales, we are now working jointly with Police Scotland to develop and introduce a campaign focusing on how personal information is used by the organisation, with the aim of encouraging more staff to share their personal information with us by showing examples of how we have used this information in the past to inform positive change.