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

News

The Scottish Police Authority communicates regularly about our role, activities and oversight of policing in Scotland.

You can find all our latest news articles listed in date order. You can also search these by topic or year.

Showing 1 to 12 of 12 results

Hate Crime Data Publication - 5 May 2024

Published: 07 May 2024

Performance

View Article

Hate Crime Data Publication - 28 April 2024

Published: 01 May 2024

Performance

View Article

Hate Crime Data Publication - 23 April 2024

Published: 24 April 2024

Performance

View Article

Hate Crime Data Publication – 16 April 2024

Published: 23 April 2024

Performance

View Article

Gold award for custody visiting

Published: 29 November 2023

Performance

View Article

Joint Biometrics Assurance Reviews

Published: 18 April 2023

Performance

View Article

Recorded Crime in Scotland

Published: 18 April 2023

Performance

View Article

Complaints and Conduct Committee publish Annual Report

Published: 07 February 2023

Performance

View Article

Statement: High Court proceedings - M9 incident

Published: 07 February 2023

Performance

View Article

Policing of protests and gatherings "professional and proportionate"

Published: 03 February 2023

Performance Evidence

View Article

Summary: Authority Meeting 24 February 2021

Published: 02 February 2023

Workforce Performance

View Article

ICVS Annual Report 2021-22

Published: 18 April 2023

Performance

View Article

Tell us whether you accept cookies

News

Hate Crime Data Publication - 5 May 2024

Hate Crime Data Publication - 28 April 2024

Hate Crime Data Publication - 23 April 2024

Hate Crime Data Publication – 16 April 2024

Gold award for custody visiting

Joint Biometrics Assurance Reviews

Recorded Crime in Scotland

Complaints and Conduct Committee publish Annual Report

Statement: High Court proceedings - M9 incident

Policing of protests and gatherings "professional and proportionate"

Summary: Authority Meeting 24 February 2021

ICVS Annual Report 2021-22