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

Complaints

Are you dissatisfied with the service you have received from policing in Scotland?

The Scottish Police Authority, Police Scotland and the Police Investigations and Reviews Commissioner (PIRC) all have a role to play in considering complaints about policing in Scotland.

In this section, find out who to direct your complaint to. We also welcome written communication in Gaelic (see our Gaelic Language Plan).

Complaints

Chris Brown

Chief Executive

Chris Brown was appointed Chief Executive of the Scottish Police Authority from 1 October 2025. Prior to this, Chris spent 4-years as the Authority's Deputy Chief Executive (Resources).

Before joining the Scottish Police Authority in April 2021, Chris spent three years with Police Scotland, establishing and leading its Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) function.

He joined policing after 20 years working in financial services where he held senior roles in the NatWest Group (formerly RBS) covering global restructuring and cost reduction, leading the transformation strategy for the bank’s retail business, and the review, challenge and approval of major bank-wide investments.

He also spent time working for insurers AXA and XL Catlin when based in London and has been a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants since 2003.

Register of Interests (last updated August 2025)

Remuneration	None
Related Undertakings	None
Contracts	None
Houses, Land and Buildings	None (only personal dwelling for personal purposes)
Interests in Shares and Securities	None
Gifts and Hospitality	None
Non-Financial Interests	Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA)

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Chris Brown