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

Paul Stewart

Head of National Services

Paul Stewart joined Forensic Services in 2024 as Head of Function in charge of National Services after an extensive career with the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service.

Having started his career at Strathclyde Fire Brigade in Govan, Paul was promoted to an Assistant Chief Fire Officer in the newly formed (2013) Scottish Fire and Rescue Service where he worked as a strategic leader in Operations, Training, Community Safety, and Strategic Planning. During his career Paul gained qualifications in Leadership and Management, Executive Leadership and completed an MBA in 2014. Paul was a qualified Gold Commander for multi-agency emergency response.

During his career, Paul undertook a secondment to Police Scotland to enhance and improve communication and response to major incidents. He also led the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service safety and security planning as well as the implementation for Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

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Paul Stewart