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

Public Confidence

This page tells you about the public attitudes to policing in Scotland.

The Scottish Police Authority’s approach to public engagement is complementary to Police Scotland’s. The Authority’s approach is targeted to where it can best add value, or to where additional evidence, insight, assurance, or reassurance, may be required. This evidence has underlined the significant value that our fellow citizens and communities place upon their police service.

Public Confidence Polling

In 2022, the Authority commissioned the Diffley Partnership to undertake a series of public polling activities on a regular six-monthly basis over the period 2022-2024. You can find the results on this page.

Find out more about Public Polling

Community Confidence Action Research

The Authority is working with Police Scotland to better understand public confidence in policing in areas that experience deprivation. A number of surveys have been conducted in various localities and the results to date can be found on this page.

Find out more about Community Confidence Action Research

COP26 Public Attitudes to Policing

The Authority commissioned a survey of over 1,000 residents in the Greater Glasgow area with questions focused on policing during COP26. You can read about the findings in our Public Briefing.

Find out more about COP26 Public Attitudes Survey - Public Briefing - December 2021

SPA Public Confidence Polling Report - 16 March 2023

Published: 13 March 2023

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Benchmarking Update - 17 March 2022

Published: 17 November 2022

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