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

Complaints

Are you dissatisfied with the service you have received from policing in Scotland?

The Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and the Police Investigations and Reviews Commissioner (PIRC) all have a role to play in considering complaints about policing in Scotland.

In this section, find out who to direct your complaint to. We also welcome written communication in Gaelic (see our Gaelic Language Plan).

Complaints

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 20 results

Police staff pay deal agreed

Published: 11 September 2025

Workforce Budget

View Article

£1.6 billion budget set for policing in 2025/26

Published: 31 March 2025

Budget

View Article

2024/25 pay deal agreed for police officers in Scotland

Published: 14 February 2025

Workforce Budget

View Article

Scottish budget proposed for policing 2025/26

Published: 04 December 2024

Budget

View Article

2023/24 Annual Report and Accounts Published

Published: 25 March 2025

Budget

View Article

2024/25 pay offer for police officers and staff

Published: 21 October 2024

Budget Workforce

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Annual Report and Accounts for policing published

Published: 28 November 2023

Budget

View Article

Green icon representing 3 broken circles.

Moorepark Laboratory, Glasgow, opened 22 November 2023

Published: 22 November 2023

Forensic Services Budget

View Article

2023-24 pay deal agreed for police staff in Scotland

Published: 19 December 2023

Workforce Budget

View Article

£1.4 billion budget set for policing

Published: 18 April 2023

Budget

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SPA win Public Finance 2022 Award

Published: 18 April 2023

Budget

View Article

Green icon of an arrow pointing upwards.

2021-22 Annual Report and Accounts for policing published

Published: 18 April 2023

Budget

View Article

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News

Police staff pay deal agreed

£1.6 billion budget set for policing in 2025/26

2024/25 pay deal agreed for police officers in Scotland

Scottish budget proposed for policing 2025/26

2023/24 Annual Report and Accounts Published

2024/25 pay offer for police officers and staff

Annual Report and Accounts for policing published

Moorepark Laboratory, Glasgow, opened 22 November 2023

2023-24 pay deal agreed for police staff in Scotland

£1.4 billion budget set for policing

SPA win Public Finance 2022 Award

2021-22 Annual Report and Accounts for policing published