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

Published: 09 December 2022

FOI 2022-084 - Journalists arrested during protest action - Information not held by SPA

Category: FOI

LET 20221130 FOI Response 2022 084 For Web (pdf, .46MB )

Report Summary

This FOI response advises that information on numbers of journalists/reporters arrested during protest action is not held by the Scottish Police Authority. Advice is provided that Police Scotland may hold information.

Related Publications

The documents below are related by Topic and are the most recently published

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FOI 2025/26-038 - Complaints and Conduct Reports February and June 2025

Published: 13 August 2025

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Annual Procurement Report 2024/25 - 13 August 2025

Published: 08 August 2025

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Q1 Transformation Report - 13 August 2025

Published: 08 August 2025

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FOI 2025/26-046 - Information asset ownership and data governance roles

Published: 07 August 2025

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FOI 2022-084 - Journalists arrested during protest action - Information not held by SPA

Report Summary

Related Publications

FOI 2025/26-038 - Complaints and Conduct Reports February and June 2025

Annual Procurement Report 2024/25 - 13 August 2025

Q1 Transformation Report - 13 August 2025

FOI 2025/26-046 - Information asset ownership and data governance roles