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

Published: 09 March 2023

Public Confidence Survey - Public Briefing - October 2021

Public Confidence Survey Factsheet 11 July 2022 (pdf, 1.15MB )

Report Summary

A Public Briefing on confidence in policing, with a particular focus around the COVID-19 pandemic. Published in October 2021.

Keeping up to date

To keep up to date with our work, please keep an eye on the Scottish Police Authority’s website and follow us on Twitter: @ScotPolAuth @policescotland

Date published: 28 October 2021

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Public Confidence in Policing - Factsheet - July 2022

Published: 18 April 2023

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Confidence in Policing

Published: 23 November 2022

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