Report Summary
This is the Authority’s third Complaints and Conduct Committee annual report, which provides information and insights about numbers, performance and assurance in relation to complaints received during 2022-23.
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To view as accessible content please use the sections below. (Note that tables and some appendixes are not available as accessible content).
Independent Review
Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations & Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing
In June 2018, the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and the Lord Advocate invited Lady Elish Angiolini to conduct an independent review on complaints against the police in Scotland.
The ‘Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing: Preliminary Report’ was published in June 2019. The ‘Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing: Final Report’ was published in November 2020.
Police Scotland are singly or jointly responsible for the majority of recommendations from the Review which are not dependent on legislative change. As at the end of 2022-23, 31 of 36 recommendations directly singly or jointly at Police Scotland had been discharged following initial assessment of evidence by HMICS and consideration via multi-agency national governance arrangements.
8 of 12 recommendations directed singly or jointly at the SPA have similarly been discharged. Alongside action taken to discharge recommendations directed at wider partners, significant progress has been made across themes of audit & review; efficiency & effectiveness; equality, diversity & inclusion; governance & accountability; rights & ethics; training & HR; and transparency & accessibility. Further detail is available via the Scottish Government website where thematic progress reports are being published (the latest edition dates to May 2023).
Recognising the above, in March 2023 the Committee agreed that future updates would be delivered by exception in respect of implementation of outstanding recommendations (rather than as a standing agenda item). Looking ahead, the Committee have sought future updates on desired impact of discharged recommendations and how this is being analysed.
In respect of recommendations from the Review requiring, or likely to require, legislative change or new legislation, following public consultation during 2021-22, the Scottish Government introduced its corresponding Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill to Parliament in June 2023.
