Section 1

Please describe how your organisation has had regard to island communities in carrying out its functions.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Authority’s main statutory functions as set out in Section 2 of the Act are to -

 maintain the Police Service of Scotland;

 promote the statutory policing principles;

 promote and support continuous improvement in the policing of Scotland;

 keep the policing of Scotland under review; and

 hold the Chief Constable to account for the policing of Scotland.

To carry out these functions the Authority has prepared a Joint Strategic Police Plan with Police Scotland reflecting the strategic priorities determined by Scottish Ministers, indicative budgets and alignment with the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework (NPF).The strategic police plan sets out the main objectives for policing in Scotland. The Authority has also prepared a Corporate Plan for 2020-2023 and Annual Business Plan. This strategic framework incorporates: the purpose and principal aims of the Authority; an analysis of the environment in which the Authority operates; details of planned efficiencies, describing how the Authority proposes to meet its duties relating to Best Value; alternative scenarios and an assessment of the risk factors that may significantly affect the execution of the plan but that cannot be accurately forecast.

In November 2020 a new SPA Corporate team structure was implemented to support the Authority in carrying out its functions. Prior to this the corporate team lacked capacity and capability to deliver the wide range of duties in support of the Authority. 21/22 was a year of transformation, integrating new staff and identifying improvement actions. 22/23 will be one of stability as we build on new approaches, processes and procedures. Central to that work is to improve our delivery of the range of public body duties that we must comply with, including our approach to having regard to the Section 7 duty, i.e. having regard for island communities in carrying out our functions.

During 21/22 we completed groundwork on a systematic approach to impact assessment and are planning to deliver an integrated impact assessment approach during 22/23. This will ensure that the Section 7 Islands duty is considered fully as part of our work in supporting the Authority. Thereafter it is intended to report as part of our annual reporting duty.