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

Angela Leitch CBE

Angela Leitch CBE was appointed to the SPA Board in June 2024. She has worked at a senior level in local authorities for over two decades and has a thorough understanding of the context within which councils and their partners continue to operate.

After eight years as Chief Executive of East Lothian Council, she was appointed as Chief Executive to the newly formed Public Health Scotland in November 2019, which gave her a deeper insight and experience of working at a national level in Scotland. Angela stepped down from this role in March 2023.

Recently she was Convenor of the Scottish Local Authority Remuneration Committee which reported to Ministers in February 2024.

In addition, Angela is a member of the Accounts Commission for Scotland, a trustee on the Board of the Cyrenians and Chair of Youthlink Scotland.

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Angela Leitch CBE