Response

The Scottish Police Authority has considered your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act (FOISA).

Information in relation to parts one to four of your request, over the period 1 January 2019 to current, is held. Clarification was requested in an effort to reduce the information in scope and the timeframe of your request. Clarification did not narrow the scope or timeframe. Therefore, we are unable to provide all of the information as it would prove too costly within the context of the fee regulations.

To explain, work to locate and retrieve information held over the timeframe requested returned over 190 records across seven business areas within the Authority. One business area alone holds more than 71 records, consisting of approximately 8210 pages, which are related to Police Scotland operations, training, recruitment, and policy. These records will have information throughout that may be in scope of your request and therefore would require review for both information in scope as well as information that may be exempt. This would require individual review by the relevant Head of Service as well as, in some cases, the Authority’s Head of Legal. In addition, all emails, correspondence, meeting minutes and papers would have to be reviewed to redact personal information, as this information is considered exempt under FOISA. Therefore, the Authority has assessed that the £600 cost limit within the Act equates to more than 40 hours of work, and we estimate that it would exceed these thresholds to fully process your request.

However, to assist, we have provided information considered relevant to specific parts of your request and which was located, retrieved and reviewed within the thresholds.

Please find each part of your request duplicated below along with our response.

• All SPA-held policy papers, legal advice (internal or external), board or committee papers, and briefing notes concerning Equality Act 2010 compliance in Police Scotland operations, training, recruitment, and policy

1.2. All records of discussions, decisions, or resolutions by the SPA Board or committees on these topics, including equality impact assessments and any follow-up monitoring or implementation records.

The Authority can confirm that information is held. The Authority is committed to open, transparent and accountable governance of policing. Board minutes and committee papers are publicly available. We have provided links below to meetings that have been identified as including relevant information.

Authority Meetings

Authority Meeting 23 May 2024 - see Item 11 and Minute.

Authority Meeting 26 September 2024 – see Item 3, Item 4 and Minute.

Authority Meeting 28 November 2024 – see Item 3 and Minute.

Authority Meeting 20 February 2025 – see Minute.

Authority Meeting 27 March 2025 see Minute.

Authority Meeting 26 June 2025 – see Minute.

Authority Meeting 21 August 2025 see Item 5 and Item 6. The Minute is due to be published on 25 September 2025.

Policing Performance Committee

Policing Performance Committee 10 December 2024 – see Item 2.7 and Minute. An extract from a related briefing to Members is provided in the Appendix.

Correspondence to Scottish Parliament following PPC meeting - Police Scotland Review: Sex and Gender | Scottish Police Authority

Policing Performance Committee 10 June 2025 - see Item 5.1. The Minute is due to be published on 11 September 2025. An extract from a related briefing to Members is provided in the Appendix.

People Committee

People Committee 29 May 2025 - see Item 3.1 and Minute.

People Committee 28 August 2025 - see Item 1.5, Item 3.7 and Item 3.8. An extract from a related briefing to Members is provided in the Appendix.

Some information held contains legal advice to the Authority, which is subject to legal privilege and is considered exempt. This exemption is subject to the public interest test which is set out below.

Public Interest Test

The public interest factor in favour of disclosure is that:

• The Supreme Court judgment dealt with an issue of significant public interest. It could be argued that the disclosure of legal advice obtained by public bodies in these circumstances would inform the ongoing public debate about the matters covered by the judgment.

The public interest factors in favour of maintaining the exemptions are:

• There is a strong inherent public interest in maintaining the right to confidentiality of communications between a legal adviser and client.

• In this instance, it could be argued that the public interest in withholding the information is even stronger given the real risk of litigation against the Authority or Police Scotland arising from the Supreme Court’s judgment. Further litigation was raised against the Scottish Government on this issue recently, as well as against the Scottish Prison Service. The reasonable prospect of litigation makes it all the more important that legal advice obtained by the Authority on this issue remains confidential.

On balance, our conclusion is that maintaining the exemptions outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

2.1. All SPA oversight reports, monitoring records, decision papers, or follow-up reviews concerning:

• Police Scotland’s role in immigration enforcement;
• Resource eligibility checks for public services;
• Border/port policing operations;
• Diversion or misuse of public policing resources for purposes outside statutory remit, including political or ideological activities.

2.2. Correspondence between SPA and Police Scotland, HMICS, or the Scottish Government relating to these matters, including safeguarding considerations linked to immigration/border operations.

The Authority can confirm that information is held. The Independent Custody Visiting Scheme (ICVS) visits Border Force Detention facilities in Scotland. This is not a statutory requirement, however for reasons of public confidence and transparency, arrangements have been made to visit these facilities in line with the rest of the UK, see page 9 of the ICVS Annual Report 2024-25. ICVS in Scotland is also part of the Immigration Detention Network run by the Independent Custody Visiting Association.

In terms of Police Scotland related elements of 2.1 and 2.2, the Authority does not hold information.

3.1. All records showing SPA’s approval, amendment, or rejection of Police Scotland budgets, funding allocations, or operational plans where Equality Act compliance, safeguarding, or immigration/resource enforcement were relevant considerations.

The Authority can confirm that information is held. This part of your request is broad and brings in scope a vast amount of information. For example, the Authority is a mandatory consultee in every Police Scotland policy and standard operating procedure. Authority staff review standard operating procedures, and accompanying EqHRIAs, and amendments may be made as a result of feedback provided. All Police Scotland standard operating procedures are publicly available along with a summary EqHRIA.

In addition, the standard reporting template to the Authority’s Board and Committees incorporates a section for outlining equality implications. Any detail provided is considered alongside the broader content when determining whether to approve a proposal from Police Scotland.

4. Post-Supreme Court Ruling Actions and Rationale

If SPA has taken no action to amend policy, governance oversight, or funding conditions following the For Women Scotland ruling, please provide:

• The recorded legal rationale for this position;
• Any documented assessment of SPA’s statutory duties in this context;
• Any board, committee, or ministerial decision records explaining the stance;
• Any monitoring, follow-up, or review records showing why no change was deemed necessary.

We would refer to our response at part one.