A thriving workforce

Pay award

Earlier this month, an agreement was reached on pay award for 2025-26 and 2026 -27 for Police Scotland and Authority staff.

The award aligns with the recent pay agreement for officers and will see staff receive a 4% pay increase from April 2025 to March 2026, followed by a further 3.5% increase from April 2026 to March 2027. The same uplift applies to a range of allowances.

I am grateful to our Trade Unions and everyone involved in reaching this important multi-year award.
Recruitment

On Friday, 29 August, I congratulated 73 officers as they concluded their initial training at a passing out parade held at Police Scotland Headquarters, Tulliallan.

The officers have now deployed to police divisions across the country and will continue their development while serving their communities.

A further intake of almost 140 new recruits made the declaration of constable at ceremonies across the country on 4 September.

The 137 probationers were joined by 15 special constables who also made the declaration, maintaining our officer establishment at 16,516.

Our #AJobLikeNoOther police officer recruitment campaign is ongoing with targeted digital advertising across multiple channels. The campaign has resulted in a 49.5% increase in recruitment applications since it was rolled out in September 2024.

Long service and good conduct events

On Wednesday, 27 August, and Tuesday, 9 September, I was able to meet with and thank a total of 54 police officers, four special constables, and 13 members of police staff, as well as Authority staff members who were being recognised for their long service and good conduct.

The events, held at Divisional Headquarters, Inverness, and Police Scotland Headquarters, Tulliallan, respectively, were good opportunities to hear first-hand from those who have given decades of service to policing and our communities and collectively had centuries of experience.
Getting out and about to meet our people and listen to their perspectives is a great pleasure for me as Chief Constable and I was able to personally thank people for their hard work, skill, and professionalism.
Scottish Police Memorial trust

On Wednesday, 3 September, family, friends and colleagues gathered at the Scottish Police Memorial, located at Police Scotland Headquarters, Tulliallan, for the 21st Annual Scottish Police Memorial Trust's Service of Remembrance.

I was joined by Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, Fiona McQueen CBE Chair of the SPA, and David Garbutt QPM from the Scottish Police Memorial Trust, and others as we paid our respects to those who have died while on duty.

The Service of Remembrance is an important day in the policing calendar, providing time to honour those no longer with us.

The service is a moment to acknowledge the sacrifices that families of police officers make and to thank them for their support.

I want to thank the Scottish Police Memorial Trust and its co-founder Christine Fulton MBE for the work they do to make the service happen every year and for the network of support they provide to the policing family when they are dealing with the loss of a loved one.

On Sunday, 28 September, I will represent Police Scotland at the UK National Police Memorial Day in Coventry.

The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

On Saturday, 23 August, I had the honour of receiving the salute at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo’s 75th anniversary show, ‘The Heroes Who Made Us’.
The Tattoo is an essential part of Scotland’s culture and international offer and an important opportunity to recognise Scotland’s military personnel for their service.

My role also presented an opportunity to extend an invitation to officers who were recognised in my bravery and excellence awards in February.

I was pleased to offer this gesture to our hard-working, skilled, and professional officers and to spend time with those who attended on the day.

Delivering the next phase of police reform

Estates

Our focus to transform the police estate under the Estates Masterplan is progressing.

Our priority this year has been to focus on the working conditions for our officers and staff, while maintaining compliance with regulations. By the end of this financial year upgrade work will have been carried out at over 100 properties ranging from small scale improvements to larger scale refurbishments such as replacement boilers and windows, mechanical and electrical upgrades, roof replacements, replacement toilets and showers, replacement finishes, and new furniture.

These projects include stations at Tain, Alness, Dingwall and Fort William in the Highlands, Rothesay on the Isle of Bute, Dumfries and Saltcoats, Pollock, East Kilbride, Cambuslang, Bathgate, Clydebank, Kirkintilloch, Corstorphine, Hawick and Glenrothes in the East, Forres, Huntly and Stonehaven.

There have been upgrades to custody facilities in Falkirk and Inverness and we also have large scale building projects at a number of sites.

In April, we completed the upgrade of the new firearms training facility at Daviot, Aberdeenshire. The new police station at William Wallace House at Forfar to replace the old station which was in a state of disrepair is due to complete in the autumn, a new hub at Woodhill House in Aberdeen will be complete by spring 2026 and will replace two smaller stations, a major upgrade project at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute is currently ongoing and a new co-location at Lochmaddy at North Uist. Another two major projects are the Glenrothes firing range extension, scheduled for completion in October and an upgrade to accommodation at Tulliallan, due to complete in November.

Since December 2023, 56 properties which had reached end of life condition or were no longer required have been disposed of, saving approximately £1.1 million per year on vacant/low usage buildings which will be reinvested into our estate.

Body worn video national roll out

The national roll out of body worn video continues at pace. Over the summer, we completed the roll out in the north of Scotland with 2,207 devices issued.

This month, we begin the roll out of 1,100 cameras to Fife (604) and Forth Valley (604) Divisions. Preparations are under way for Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders to go live early autumn which will see half of the Service deploying body worn video before the end of the year.

Rights based pathway

In June 2023 Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority agreed the introduction of the Rights Based Pathway to support decision making and maintain public trust in the organisation when adopting new technology.

The pathway puts the examination of ethical issues and public engagement considerations at its heart and supports the memorandum of understanding between Police Scotland and the Authority on new and emerging areas of strategy, policy, and practice.

The pathway is well established now, having been used to guide around 40 pieces of work through to use ethically and with relevant scrutiny and consultation, including body worn video, Digital Evidence Sharing Capability and Child Abuse Image Database Image Classifier.

We are embedding the pathway for all new data-driven technology being introduced to ensure a structured human rights-based and ethical approach prior to implementation.