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

Alan Connell

Head of Forensic Infrastructure and Support

Alan Connell has worked strategic leadership roles across the private and public sector. Appointed as Head of Infrastructure and Support at SPA Forensic Services in 2022, he was previously the Chief of Staff for the Deputy Chief Officer at Police Scotland.

A law graduate, Alan has delivered transformational change in a wide variety of logistics and other companies as well as at the University Glasgow, where he was Director of Operations. Driven by desire for continual business improvement, Alan has a track record of strict financial management and managing large teams who deliver operational efficiencies and reduce costs.

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Alan Connell