Background

The Police (Ethics, Conduct & Scrutiny) Scotland Act 2025 (PECSS) previous update was presented to the committee on 26 February 2026.

Training

The Code of Ethics for Policing in Scotland was laid in the Scottish Parliament on 22 January 2026. Since the process was undertaken the PECSS project team have continued to work with Policy Support in order to ensure all documentation has been updated.

On 2 March 2026, a new cohort of probationary police officers commenced their training with Police Scotland at the Scottish Police College and other locations across Police Scotland. They are the first recruits to undertake the updated course work with the new statutory Code of Ethics for Policing in Scotland.

The PECSS online training package on the Moodle platform went live on 14 January 2026. An initial target date set for all police officers and staff to have completed the training was 31 March 2026. This target was self-imposed in order to have the training completed prior to the launch of the Vetting training, however, does not have any legislative implications.

As of Thursday 23 April 2026, 14,562 had completed the training, 658 were in progress and 8,354 had still to commence the training. This is a completion rate of 61.77%.

An updated target date has now been set for 31 May 2026 for all police officers and police staff to complete the training course.

Conduct Regulations 

On conclusion of the formal consultation on the updated conduct regulations in November 2025 the Scottish Government assessed the feedback and recommendations, following which they identified a number of points for discussion and follow up.

The Scottish Government are currently drafting an updated set of conduct regulations. It is anticipated the regulations will be ready for a longer consultation period over the summer of 2026.

Following which, the Scottish Government, are preparing to lay the new conduct regulations before parliament at the start of September 2026.

On the completion of the parliamentary process the Scottish Government would look to introduce the new regulations during November 2026, the earliest date this can occur would be 10 November 2026.

A procurement process is currently underway in relation to the complaint handling software database which holds all the complaint and misconduct information for Police Scotland. The system would require to be able to facilitate the new conduct regulations as well as the Barred and Advisory lists.

Barred and Advisory Lists

The Scottish Government are also drafting regulations with regards to the Barred and Advisory lists. This process is at the early stages with the Government team benchmarking the process in England and Wales which is maintained by the College of Policing.

The PECSS Act places the responsibility on the Scottish Police Authority to establish and maintain the Barred and Advisory lists for Police Scotland. However, the legislation requires the Scottish Government to provide provision by regulation in order for the Scottish Police Authority to be able to delegate the daily management and maintenance of the lists for Scotland.

On 17 March 2026, the Scottish Police Authority provided a letter to the College of Policing, from Chief Executive Officer Chris Brown, providing agreement in principle for the Barred and Advisory lists to join the existing database which holds all of the lists for every force within England and Wales.

The Scottish Government plans are for the Barred and Advisory regulations to be introduced following parliamentary process in June 2027. The Government also intend to introduce a schedule bringing in regulations with regards to former constables within the same timeframe.

Vetting 

On 01 April 2026 the Police Service of Scotland Vetting Regulations 2026 commenced for all Police Officers, also enacting the vetting aspects of the PECSS Act 2025. As a direct consequence, legislative provision now exists for commencement of 10-year vetting renewals to progress within Scotland for all officers and staff and legislative provisions for all officers and staff to hold and maintain vetting clearance, with a number of risk mitigation control measures and ability for dismissal if serious adverse information is identified.

Aligned to the commencement of the PECSS Act vetting aspects, a new governance framework for Vetting within Scotland has now been introduced. A fully consulted upon Vetting & Supplier Vetting Policy, Standard Operating Procedure and associated Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessment now supersedes all previous vetting procedural documents and commenced within Police Scotland on 03 April 2026.

Additionally, a workforce e-learning training package for PECSS Act Vetting changes has been developed and will be implemented across Police Scotland from 15 April 2026, for completion by all staff and officers up to and including the Chief Constable. A mandatory completion date has been set as 31 July 2026.

A supportive workforce communication addressing all changes to vetting (inclusive of the governance framework and e-learning), including a line mangers toolkit, extensive frequently asked questions and significant welfare support provision has been rolled out across the workforce, ensuring maximum coverage to educate and upskill all officers and staff.

The final significant change to vetting being progressed is creation and implementation of the Vetting Code of Practice. The Vetting Code of Practice is a new document to Police Scotland, introduced by the PECSS Act 2025. This document will be for officers and staff with one of the most important aspects being the legislative requirement for it to lay provision for police staff vetting as introduced by the PECSS Act 2025, ensuring staff have similar processes introduced by the Vetting Regulation for officers. The document is under construction by the Force Vetting Unit with significant assistance from Legal Services, HR Policy and the SPA. The document is now able to be consulted upon given the PECSS Act commencement on 01 April 2026 and in the near future it is intended that a draft will be shared with a number of invested stakeholders, including the Statutory Staff Associations, Trade Unions and Diversity Staff Associations to begin local consultation. There is no set date for commencement of the Code of Practice, with the PECSS Act legislation providing it should be laid in parliament as soon as reasonably practicable after 01 April 2026. Work is progressing at pace and a policy decision by the Force Vetting Unit has been made that police staff vetting, within the new PECSS Act legislation, will not yet be progressed until the Code has been enacted, ensuring an appropriate governance framework in place.