Complaints, investigations and misconduct in policing - recommendations: progress report - December 2022

Theme 8: Efficiency and Effectiveness

The recommendations under this theme can largely be implemented without the need to make legislation, with only one recommendation (Preliminary Recommendation 13) requiring or likely to require either primary or secondary legislation. Further details on progress within this theme is given below.

Mental Health

Recommendation 72 is in relation to custody. The Scottish Government continues to work with partners, including Police Scotland, through the Redesign of Urgent Care Programme and Unscheduled Care Collaborative, to ensure that people with urgent mental health care needs get the right help, in the right place, at the right time. This is being facilitated by each Health Board providing access to a mental health clinician 24 hours a day, seven days a week for those who require urgent specialist mental health assessment or urgent referral to local mental health services. This is creating national and local routes to ensure people in emotional crisis or distress, and those in need of urgent care, are assessed and supported, regardless of how they access services.

National Guidance has been developed to support Health Boards to implement this approach and significant progress has been made. For example, referral routes from NHS 24 to local services for urgent care during the out of hours period and increased availability of mental health clinicians providing professional support to Police Scotland and the Scottish Ambulance Service. We will continue this work to improve the unscheduled care mental health response.

A key objective of this approach is to ensure that people do not have to attend A&E to receive the care they need. However, when they do, improvements to our urgent care response will ensure appointments can be scheduled so that clinicians are ready to receive them, providing care quickly and reducing waiting times for patients.

To build additional mental health capacity in key settings, the Scottish Government has provided significant investment to recruit an additional 800 whole time equivalent (WTE) mental health posts, including A&Es, GP practices, police station custody suite and prisons – ensuring local provision and support is at the heart of our plans. At the end of this commitment an additional 958.9 WTE mental health posts have been recruited under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy, including 179.2 WTE posts within the A&E setting and 35.6 WTE posts in Police Custody suites.

Further updates

Details on progress against all recommendations under this theme are set out in the table below:

Progress Overview for the period 1 April to 30 September 2022

Recommendations

68 Strategic Oversight Group or National Complaint Handling Development Group to engage with the SPSO.

Lead

Scottish Government

Current Position

In progress

SPSO will be invited to attend a forthcoming NCHDG meeting, where their expertise and opinion will be welcomed.

Recommendations

72 NHS accident and emergency facilities designed to be able to deal safely with mental health care and acute crises.

Lead

Scottish Government

Current Position

In progress

Work with partners continues through the Redesign of Urgent Care Programme and Unscheduled Care Collaborative, to ensure that people with urgent mental health care needs get the right help, in the right place, at the right time. The Scottish Government has provided significant investment to recruit an additional 800 whole time equivalent (WTE) mental health posts, including A&Es, GP practices, police station custody suite and prisons – ensuring local provision and support is at the heart of our plans. At the end of this commitment an additional 958.9 WTE mental health posts have been recruited to under Action 15 of the Mental Health Strategy, including 179.2 WTE posts within the A&E setting and 35.6 WTE posts in Police Custody suites.

Recommendations

PR13

Recommendations

Scottish Government to consider the case for amending the legislation to include a provision to deal with vexatious complainers.

Lead

Scottish Government

Current Position

In progress

The public consultation on legislative proposals closed on 16 August 2022. The analysis of responses has now been published and, as outlined in the current Programme for Government, the Police Complaints and Misconduct Handling Bill is expected to be introduced in 2022/23.

The following is a list of recommendations within this theme which have already been signed off by the Ministerial Group as completed:

Signed off by Ministerial Group as completed and reported in the 23 June 2022 Thematic Progress Report

Recommendation

PR11 Police Scotland to accelerate plans to expand use of Body Worn Video.

Lead: Police Scotland

Signed off by Ministerial Group as completed and reported in the 16 December 2021 Thematic Progress Report

Recommendation

9 All frontline resolution should be carried out by Professional Standards Department.

Lead: Police Scotland

Signed off by Ministerial Group as completed and reported in the 24 June 2021 Thematic Progress Report

Recommendation

80 Time limit for submission of complaints by the public should be clear in the PIRC's statutory guidance and publicised on the relevant websites.

Lead: PIRC

Recommendation

PR20 PIRC to consider the case for creating regional presence to enhance its capacity to respond immediately.

Lead: PIRC

Recommendation

PR25 Independent management review to ensure that the PIRC has appropriate leadership, skills and culture to carry out its functions.

Lead: PIRC