Response

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

In terms of parts one and two of your request, the following reports presented to the Authority’s Complaints and Conduct Committee are provided.

• Item 12 Police Scotland Conduct Report (Q1) presented on 4 September 2025.
• Item 13 Police Scotland Ongoing Non-Criminal Complaints on 4 September 2025.
• Item 10 Police Scotland Conduct Report (Q2) presented on 13 November 2025.
• Item 11 Police Scotland Ongoing Non-Criminal Complaints presented on 13 November 2025.

Some information has been redacted where this is considered to be third party personal information as this is exempt in terms of FOISA. This exemption is absolute and does not require application of the public interest test. While you may have a legitimate interest in disclosure of this information, it is our view that those interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subjects.

Some information has been redacted as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice substantially the effective conduct of public affairs and prejudice to public authority functions. These exemptions require application of the public interest test.

Public Interest Test

The public interest in favour of disclosure of the requested information:

• This would adhere to the basic principle of being open and transparent.

• This would support public understanding of the work of the Complaints and Conduct Committee.

The public interest factors in favour of maintaining the exemption being:

• The information is related to ongoing matters being investigated by Police Scotland. Disclosure of information that may identify individual cases could prejudice the process if causing increased speculation and scrutiny, ultimately delaying the resolution of sensitive legal matters.
• The information relates to proceedings to ascertain whether the conduct of officers is improper. Disclosure may risk prejudicing Police Scotland’s ability to ascertain, as a result of investigation of complaint matters, whether a person is responsible for improper conduct.
• Disclosure of the information may result in this information not being included in future reporting to the Committee. This would prejudice substantially the ability of the Committee to discharge their duties effectively in accordance with the Authority’s Corporate Governance Framework.

Therefore, on balance, our conclusion is that maintaining the exemptions outweigh that of disclosure.

In terms of part three of your request regarding scrutiny by the Complaints and Conduct Committee in relation to the reported increase in the number of subject officers experiencing suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety and PTSD.

The Authority does not hold information.

By way of explanation, minutes of the Complaints and Conduct Committee meetings do not touch on this subject.

In terms of part four of your request regarding scrutiny by the Complaints and Conduct Committee in relation to successful Police Appeals Tribunals.

The Authority does not hold information.

To assist, we can advise that the Authority’s legal team are responsible for the administration of appeals to Police Appeals Tribunals. Reports by SPA Legal are submitted to meetings of the Authority’s Legal Committee on a regular basis. This is a standing item at the Legal Committee providing members with an update on ongoing appeals to Police Appeals Tribunals.

An update report by SPA Legal was presented to the Legal Committee meeting on 6 November 2025. The report advised members of the outcome of two appeals which had been recently allowed by Police Appeals Tribunals.

Following consideration of that report, members sought assurance that when an appeal to a Police Appeals Tribunal is allowed, the reasons for the tribunal’s decision to allow the appeal are reviewed internally to identify any organisational learning points arising. As the vast majority of appeals to Police Appeals Tribunals arise from misconduct proceedings brought by Police Scotland against police officers below the rank of Assistant Chief Constable, members agreed that it would be appropriate to seek such assurance from Police Scotland.

It was agreed that Police Scotland should be asked to report back to the committee on whether Police Scotland routinely reviews the outcomes of appeals to Police Appeals Tribunals in order to extract learning from decisions issued by Police Appeals Tribunals.