Next Steps for the IRG

This report offers a partial and provisional perspective on our review to date. It is not intended to be exhaustive. We still have much to do. We are enormously grateful to Police Scotland for the access we have been given to the service and to all those who have given their valuable time to us. We are especially indebted to colleagues in the EDIHR secretariat without whose efforts our review simply would not be possible.

It is worth saying that whatever the concerns described in this report we have been left in no doubt about the level of commitment to this agenda by Police Scotland and the leadership provided by the Chief Constable and the DCC Designate and their colleagues. We know that many of the issues we have highlighted will be known to them and will be in the process of being considered by the ACC Policing Together and his team.

Neither are we in any doubt about the level of commitment to effective policing throughout the service which reflected the 2021 findings of Durham University Business School which suggested that ‘individuals within policing in Scotland are highly motivated to provide meaningful public service and are personally committed to serving the wider community.’

We are also aware that a range of actions relevant to the early insights described above are in development or early implementation stage. These include EDIHR related training for both senior and middle managers, the introduction of a package called Inclusion Moments designed to assist middle managers in improving confidence in discussing EDIHR matters, and plans to reduce the level of overtime worked by officers. As we move to the next stage of the review we are keen to understand the impact of these actions on the ground and in practice.

We are in the process of scoping out the next phase of our review and would welcome observations and ideas from Police Scotland not only on our work to date and the insights shared in this report but also on our proposed areas of focus moving forward. They include but are not limited to the Professional Standards Department, Human Resources and Learning, Training and Development.

We are keen to explore progress in relation to vetting both in recruitment and promotion, and during an individual’s police career. We are also working with the Strategy and Analysis team on a longitudinal research proposal regarding the experiences and perspectives of probationers.

We have also met with the team leading on Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessments (EqHRIAs) to hear about the evolving picture of training and communications there and we are aware that they plan to launch an online hub of resources and tools shortly. We are keen to further explore what needs to done to drive meaningful practice.

As previously mentioned, a key task for the next phase will be to contextualise the qualitative data we are gathering in a thorough appreciation and analysis of available administrative data. We are also keen to take further opportunities to observe operational delivery.

In the spirit of extending our role as a critical friend to Police Scotland in its endeavours on EDIHR, we look forward to working alongside the Policing Together team and their colleagues at national level and offering observation and constructive input on implementation at divisional level where opportunities arise.

Priorities in terms of further external engagement include the HMICS, particularly in relation to its thematic inspection on organisational culture, and as discussed the Casey Review team.

All these aspects of our work and the range of evidence and data sources previously mentioned will be critical to us in reaching an informed view about what level of assurance we can offer at the conclusion of our review which will be shared in our final report in early 2024. We will be providing a further interim report in early autumn 2023.

We have emphasised throughout this report our commitment to working with Police Scotland as a critical friend. This has allowed for our input to help develop incremental change to policy and practice and we will continue in that vein.