Report Summary
Issued 3 September 2025, this FOI response provides information held regarding complaints received by the Authority for which Police Scotland is the responsible authority.
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Request
Your initial request for information dated 22 August 2025 is copied below.
How many times during the last two years, since 2023, has the SPA refused to pass a complaint to Police Scotland.
A response was issued on 25 August 2025 seeking the following clarification:
We would like to assist further with your request therefore our business areas require clarity regarding the scope of your request.
The circumstances by which the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) would pass a ‘complaint’ to Police Scotland would be matters where the SPA are not the responsible authority.
The SPA is only responsible for dealing with complaints about the Authority, SPA Corporate staff, Forensics Services staff, and senior police officers of Assistant Chief Constable rank and above.
The SPA would never fail to pass a complaint for which it was not responsible back to Police Scotland and deal with it itself.
Following the request for clarification your response received on 28 August 2025 is copied below.
You state that you take cases as stated, so how many have you refused to take in the last three months.
As with any case, please advise the procedure if they refuse to reply.
