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

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

Publication Library

The Authority is committed to conducting its activity in an open and transparent manner, and in a way that builds trust and confidence in policing.

In this section we aim to make as much of our information as possible available, accessible and searchable. Our publication scheme summarises all of the information we publish. This aims to improve public access to the information we hold and encouraging public awareness of, and participation in, the decisions we make.

Where possible we provide a suitable HTML alternative and / or make documents accessible. Please contact us if you would like to request a corporate publication in an alternative format.

Scottish Police Authority - Publication Scheme

Committee

Topic

Forensic Services Change Programme Update - 4 May 2023

Published: 17 May 2023

Publication Forensics Services Committee

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Green icon representing 3 broken circles.

Forensic Services Change Programme Update - 30 October 2023

Published: 25 October 2023

Published: 04 June 2025

Publication

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Publication Library

Forensic Services Change Programme Update - 4 May 2023

Forensic Services Change Programme Update - 30 October 2023

FOI 2025/26-088 - Wait time for Subject Access Request from Police Scotland

FOI 2025/26-087 - Scrutiny of Police Scotland conduct process (while awaiting implementation of PECSS)

FOI 2025/26-086 - Costs associated with policing protests or public order operations relating to migrant accommodation

FOI 2025/26-051 - Temporary and permanent agency labour spend

FOI 2025/26-044 - Correspondence relating the policing of protests in solidarity with Palestine

FOI 2025/26-025 - Various total spend 2021-22 to 2024-25

FOI 2025/26-020 - Number of uniformed deployable Police Officers in specific areas in 2012 and 2025

FOI 2025/26-019 - FTE employees in legal team and spend on internal and external legal services – 2022/23 to 2024/25

FOI 2025/26-014 - Fatal fire scene images

FOI 2025/26-011 - Crime scene investigation report - Mary McLaughlin case