The SPA’s Policing Performance Committee is responsible for one of the key remits of the Authority - to provide oversight and promotion of continuous improvement in policing. This Committee also considers proposed changes to operational policing that may have particular public interest, ethical or human rights implications.

In this respect, the Committee is critical to the Authority’s mission to promote policing in the Scottish public interest.

At our recent meeting on Tuesday 7 June 2022, a number of key public interest areas were reported to members by Police Scotland, including compliance with stop and search code of practice, independent custody visiting, policing performance, hate crime and online child sexual exploitation and abuse.

The considerations and conclusions of Committee will be reported to the next full Authority meeting. Set out below are some of the highlights from the meeting, a recording of which you can find on our Livestream channel.

Stop and Search

In line with the Authority’s continued focus on the welfare of vulnerable groups, assurances were provided on the approach, both overall and specific to the searching of children and young people in custody, underpinned by a commitment to dignity and respect for the individual.

ICVS Annual Report 2021-22

At the conclusion of Volunteers Week, the Authority thanked the volunteer Independent Custody Visitors for their great work. The Committee reiterated the importance of investment in the custody estate, recognising this is an issue identified by our volunteer visitors on an ongoing basis.

You can read a blog from two of our volunteers.

Performance Reporting

The Committee welcomed the detail and insights provided through the quarterly performance report and acknowledged that it has been challenging to identify underlying trends in the data, given the impact of Covid over the last 12-24 months.

Continuous improvement was evident in the refreshed performance framework, which now includes benchmarking data for the first time.

Hate Crime

With equality and diversity a key theme in the Dame Elish Angiolini report, Committee members received an update from Police Scotland on progress towards delivery of the hate crime improvement plan.

Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

Finally, the Committee was provided with an update on progress on the improvement plan on child sexual abuse and exploitation. Progress is being made and the Committee will maintain its focus on this key improvement area for Police Scotland.

Michelle Miller

Chair, Policing Performance Committee

Article initially published 14 June 2022