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

Helen Haworth

Head of Acquisitive Crime

Helen Haworth was appointed Head of Function at SPA Forensic Services in August 2022 having re-joined in July 2018 as Operations Manager for Biology. As the National Head of Biology at Key Forensic Services Ltd, she had responsibility for three sites, and then latterly as Principle Scientist specialising in performance compliance.

In a varied career, Helen has been a Scene Attending Reporting Scientist in all aspects of Biology as well as a founder member of the private Forensic service provider Key Forensic Services Ltd.

Helen started her career as an Assistant Scientific Officer in Forensic Biology at the Forensic Science Service Birmingham in 1989 and has a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences from Wolverhampton.

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Helen Haworth