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

Pauline Howie CBE

Pauline Howie was appointed to the SPA Board in June 2024. She worked in the NHS and Scottish Government for over 30 years, 27 of those at Board level as either Finance Director or Chief Executive.

She was appointed as Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service in 2009 and retired from that position in 2023.

She is passionate about high quality public services and has worked collaboratively to transform service delivery, improve outcomes and peoples' experience, adopting innovative practice and technology and investing in workforce and cultural development.

She was awarded an OBE in 2023, a CBE in 2024 and the Institute of Directors Scotland and UK Public Services Director of the Year Awards 2019. She is a Trustee of Alzheimer Scotland - Action on Dementia and acts as a Specialist Advisor with the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE).

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Pauline Howie CBE