Report detail

Appointment of Vice Chair

My appointment as Chair of the Authority took formal effect on 7 April 2025. Since then I have spent time speaking with Members and I am grateful that Alasdair Hay agreed to take on the role of Vice Chair. This is a critical position, supporting myself as Chair and the Board to drive progress against the Strategic Police Plan and ensure the effective support and governance of policing. This appointment was approved by Members on 24 April 2025 and took immediate effect.

Membership of committees

In addition to the appointment of Alasdair Hay as Vice Chair, I made a number of recommendations to backfill my own Authority commitments on two remaining committees and the Police Negotiating Board:

• Angela Leitch to join the Complaints and Conduct Committee
• Chris Creegan to join the Policing Together Oversight Group
• Chris Brown, Deputy Chief Executive to join the Police Negotiating Board

These appointments were approved by Members on 24 April 2025 and took immediate effect. I have attached at Appendix A a summary of the current membership of committee / oversight group with the changes as approved highlighted.

With a current Board membership of just 9, we are running with a reduced capacity. I expect to make further appointments to committees / oversight groups once new members are on board.

Board Objectives

The Board’s Objectives for 2025-26 have been reviewed and published on the Authority’s website following agreement with Members.

The Board’s objectives explain what the Board, as a collective group of non-executive Members, will do to contribute to the direction and priorities for policing which are set out and approved or endorsed by the Board in the following documents:

• Strategic Police Plan 2023-2026
• Police Scotland’s Vision 2030
• The Forensic Services Strategy 2021-2026
• The Authority’s Corporate Strategy 2023-2026

The two key priorities for the Board during 2025-2026 will remain:

• To maintain a balanced budget position within policing
• To support the development of sustainable policing and forensic services.

To meet both objectives, the Board will focus its support and scrutiny of policing in three specific areas:

• Culture
• Capacity
• Capability

Appointment of Temporary Assistant Chief Constable

On 11 April the Board approved the appointment of Lynn Radcliff to the position of Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Professionalism and Assurance following an internal recruitment process. I am grateful to Mary Pitcaithly who represented the Authority on that selection panel.

Board Member Recruitment

Public Appointments Scotland launched a recruitment process seeking five new Board members to join the Authority on 9 April 2025. Members with skills and experience in one of the following five areas are being sought:

• Advocating for and influencing policy or practice for minoritised ethnic communities
• Legal and compliance issues in the public sector
• Digital and technology-enabled change
• Policing experience at a strategic and operational level
• Financial expertise.

The selection panel for this recruitment round is being Chaired by Don McGillivary, Scottish Government Director of Safer Communities and includes myself as Chair, Madeline Smith, Independent Member and Heidi Winser of the Ethical Standards Commission.

To support the recruitment process, the Authority hosted an online information session for potential candidates on Tuesday 29 April which was well attended. I am grateful to Pauline Howie and Angela Leitch who supported the session by giving interested candidates an insight into their experience on the Board over the last year.

The deadline for applications was Tuesday 6 May 2025 and the interview and selection process is expected to conclude at the end of June with new Members in post from 1 August 2025.

Chief Executive Recruitment

On 9 April the Authority also launched a recruitment process for the next Chief Executive who will take over from Lynn Brown in September when she retires.

The Authority is utilising the support of an independent and specialist Recruitment Partner, LHH, to conduct this process. The Selection Panel will be Chaired by myself as Chair of the Authority and includes Don McGillivary, Scottish Government Director of Safer Communities, Gregory Colgan, Independent Panel Member and Mary Pitcaithly The closing date for applications was 4 May 2025 and the recruitment and selection process is expected to conclude in late June 2025.

National Conversation on Live Facial Recognition

The Authority has been working in partnership with Police Scotland and the Scottish Biometrics Commissioner to take forward a commitment made in June 2024 to host a national conversation on the use of live facial recognition technology in policing. This public conversation is not a formal conversation. It was an early opportunity to gauge the public’s views about the use of this technology.

More than 2,600 responses were received from the public to an online survey. Focus groups were held with interested groups to understand the specific implications across society. I am very grateful to everyone who gave their time, expertise and for sharing their views.

The final stage of this conversation will conclude at a conference held on the 16 May in Edinburgh, bringing together operational and regulatory expertise, and providing stakeholders with a further opportunity to discuss the potential use of this technology in a Scottish policing context.

A report outlining the findings of the conversation, incorporating analysis from the survey responses, focus groups and the conference, will be repoted to the Authority’s Policing Performance Committee on 10 June. Police Scotland will also provide further detail on any next steps.

Memorandum of Understanding

The Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2021. The MOU seeks to provide a guide to early and effective identification, and appropriate engagement, between the Authority and Police Scotland. This applies when the service is considering a new or significantly revised and emerging strategy, policy, or practice to improve the safety and wellbeing of persons, localities, and communities in Scotland, and which are likely to be of significant public interest.

Following my appointment as Chair, the Chief Constable and I have resigned the document, restating our commitment. This is attached to my report at Appendix B and has been updated on the Authority’s website.

Regional Scrutiny Engagement Sessions

At the end of April, I attended three virtual regional scrutiny engagement sessions, where I had the opportunity to meet elected representatives from across Scotland. These sessions, supported by DCC Connors and the three regional ACCs, provide an opportunity to discuss policing issues of local, regional and national importance. They also offered further detail on the national and specialist provision which underpins and enhances delivery of local policing across every community of Scotland. This was my first opportunity to meet many of the elected representatives who deliver local scrutiny, and I want to express my thanks to them for their positive and constructive engagement.

Supreme Court Judgement

On 16 April 2025, the Supreme Court issued its judgement in the case of For Women Scotland Vs Scottish Ministers, rulling that a Gender Recognition Certificate does not change a person’s legal sex for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010. The Authority notes the Supreme Court's Judgement and the Interim Guidance subsequently published by the EHRC on Friday 25 April 2025. We expect both the judgement and the developing guidance to inform Police Scotland's ongoing review.

Engagement with Unison

As part of the Authority’s regular engagement with our workforce representatives, I met with Unison on 29 April to discuss a range of important workforce issues with a focus on Unisons involvement on key strategic issues and strategies. I am grateful to Unison representatives for their ongoing constructive dialogue and support for the scrutiny of policing.

COSLA 50th birthday celebrations

I was honoured to attend the Parliamentary reception to celebrate 50-years of COSLA on 8 May, alongside colleagues from across public service in Scotland. It was a great opportunity to celebrate the role of local government in shaping delivery of services, and to hear so much focus from COSLA President Shona Morrison on the importance of collaboration and effective delivery of outcomes for the communities of Scotland.