Who We Are

The Scottish Police Authority is independent of both the Scottish Government and policing. It is the primary governance body for policing in Scotland, and was established as a public body on 1 April 2013 by the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012. It was set up to hold the Chief Constable to account; promote, support and oversee improvement in policing. It is also responsible for the management and delivery of Forensic Services in Scotland and Independent Custody Visiting Scotland.

In this section, find out more about the Authority’s priorities, the Board and the Leadership team.

Who We Are

What We Do

The Scottish Police Authority is responsible for maintaining policing. It has four specific areas of responsibility:

promoting the policing principles

supporting continuous improvement

keeping policing under review

holding the Chief Constable to account.

This section tells you in outline what the Authority does.

What We Do

Complaints

Are you dissatisfied with the service you have received from policing in Scotland?

The Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and the Police Investigations and Reviews Commissioner (PIRC) all have a role to play in considering complaints about policing in Scotland.

In this section, find out who to direct your complaint to. We also welcome written communication in Gaelic (see our Gaelic Language Plan).

Complaints

Published: 27 April 2023

Joint Equalities Outcomes for Policing

Category: Corporate Document

Topic: Policy Workforce

Commitee: Board Meetings

Joint Equality Outcomes For Policing 2021 (pdf, .67MB )

Report Summary

Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority’s Equality Outcomes for 2021- 2023 will help us to better understand and improve equality within the workplace for our officers and staff, as well as in the communities we serve.

Related Publications

The documents below are related by Topic and are the most recently published

Police Scotland Vetting Overview - 1 June 2023

Published: 26 September 2024

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FOI 2023/24-009(2) - RPE / Clean shaven policy

Published: 27 June 2023

Policy Workforce

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FOI 2023/24-009 - RPE / Clean shaven policy

Published: 27 June 2023

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Naloxone - Public Briefing - October 2021

Published: 18 April 2023

Policy Workforce

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Joint Equalities Outcomes for Policing

Report Summary

Related Publications

Police Scotland Vetting Overview - 1 June 2023

FOI 2023/24-009(2) - RPE / Clean shaven policy

FOI 2023/24-009 - RPE / Clean shaven policy

Naloxone - Public Briefing - October 2021