Report Summary
This report provides members of the Policing Performance Committee with an overview of Police Scotland’s progress on delivery against recommendations from the Joint Review of Diversion from Prosecution 2023.
To access the full document please open the PDF document above.
To view as accessible content please use the sections below. (Note that tables and some appendixes are not available as accessible content).
Meeting
The publication discussed was referenced in the meeting below
Policing Performance Committee - 12 March 2024
Date : 12 March 2024
Location : online
Background
In February 2023, HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland published the Joint Review of Diversion from Prosecution. This report detailed a review by a number of inspecting bodies, namely HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS), HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland, the Care Inspectorate and HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland and aimed to assess the operation and impact of diversion from prosecution in Scotland.
The report detailed 34 recommendations, of which 4 were for Police Scotland. The recommendations for Police Scotland were;
• Police Scotland should ensure that reporting officers have an appropriate level of awareness of the overarching principles of diversion from prosecution, including the role of partner agencies, and a good working knowledge of the national guidelines on diversion.
• Police Scotland should ensure that internal police guidance, standard operating procedures and templates provide adequate information to guide reporting officers on the completion of Standard Prosecution Reports (SPRs) as they relate to diversion.
• Police Scotland should ensure that adequate supervision and quality assurance processes are in place to improve the quality of SPRs relevant to diversion.
• Police Scotland should ensure that information known to the police that is relevant to the diversion assessment, such as that held on the Interim Vulnerable Persons’ Database, is included in SPRs.
