Background

Public bodies in Scotland are required to submit an annual climate change report to Scottish Government no later than 30th November each year.

The Report consist of six mandatory sections: -
1) Profile of reporting organisation.
2) Governance, Management and Strategy.
3) Emissions, Targets and Projects.
4) Adaptation.
5) Procurement.
6) Validation.

The Report is for the year 1st April 2024 – 31st March 2025. This year’s Report will be the 12th annual Report submitted. Total emissions for the year ending 31st March 2025 are 39,904 tCO2(e). This exceeds an ideal downwards trajectory towards our overall 35% reduction target and it is highly likely that we will not achieve 35% emissions reductions by end of March 2026. Please see Figure 1 below.

Figure 1 - carbon emissions and target pathway
Figure 2 provides some context in relation to our overall reduction since the inception of Police Scotland.

Figure 1 - Emission totals since beginning of CCR scheme (by Scope).

The reporting format issued by Scottish Government is an Excel-type template. All public bodies in Scotland are obliged to use this standard template. Conversion factors are embedded within this reporting proforma. Whilst DEFRA advice is to include biogenic out-of-scope emissions from diesel and petrol, the Report template does not incorporate that value and hence our total yearly emissions in 6.2 above are slightly higher at 39,904 as opposed to 39,105 tCO2(e) in the Report. Please see Figure 2 (Year 11 carbon footprint data).

As a consequence of how mandatory reporting of public bodies was originally legislated for, we are obliged to submit two annual Reports, the first in the name of “The Scottish Police Authority” (SPA) and the second in the name of “The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Scotland”.
Our Report in the name of “The Scottish Police Authority” contains all details and data. This Report is signed by the Chief Executive of the SPA before submission to the Scottish Government.

The Report in the name of “The Chief Constable of the Police Service of Scotland.” contains no detail or data and cross-refers to “The Scottish Police Authority” Report. The Report is left blank in order to avoid double counting. This has been agreed with the scheme administrator, Sustainable Scotland Network. This Report is signed by the Chief Constable of Police Scotland before submission to the Scottish Government.

Both Reports require signatures to confirm that they have Executive approval and have gone through the relevant governance processes.

Data and information for inclusion within the Report is sourced from a number of key areas within the Business. Please see Table 1 for reference.

Table 1 - Emission data, metrics, and source.

In addition to these main sources, there are other data sources related to calculation of extremely small amount weights of emissions. For example – data on medical gas use provided by Forensic Services.