Police complaints, investigations and misconduct - legislation proposals: consultation analysis

2 Introduction

2.1 Background and context for the consultation

This report concerns the analysis of responses to the public consultation on the recommendations made by Dame Elish Angiolini following her independent review of complaints handling, investigations and misconduct issues in relation to policing.^[3] Through her preliminary report^[4] (June 2019) and final report (November 2020), Dame Elish made 111 individual recommendations, 34 of which are likely to require legislation. The Scottish Government and Crown Office committed to accepting the majority of the recommendations in the joint response to Dame Elish's final report by the former Lord Advocate and former Cabinet Secretary for Justice in February 2021^[5].

According to the third thematic progress report published in June 2022, 44 of the non-legislative recommendations have already been implemented, although some recommendations have been identified as likely to require a basis in primary or secondary legislation to be affected in full.^[6] The Scottish Government launched a public consultation on 24 May 2022 aiming to collect the views and opinions on the recommendations which are likely to require legislative change. The views and opinions contained within the responses may therefore inform the Scottish Government's policy decisions on the implementation of these recommendations^[7].

2.2 Consultation structure and format

The Scottish Government's online consultation on legislative proposals for reform of police complaints, investigations and misconduct was hosted on the Scottish Government's Citizen Space portal and consisted of 111 closed-format and 56 open-format free-text questions. The Scottish Government also accepted responses provided via email or post. The consultation opened on 24 May and closed on 16 August 2022. Questions were organised under areas of recommended changes to the legislation, which were grouped under four broad sections:

• Section 1 considered the recommendations which seek to clarify or strengthen existing legislation around the rights of members of the public and police officers.
  It also asked for views on the responsibilities of police officers during investigations as well as on Police Scotland's Code of Ethics.
• Section 2 asked for views on proposed changes to the governance and jurisdiction of, and additional powers for, the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC).
• Section 3 sought views on conduct and standards as well as other measures regarding disciplinary and grievance procedures.
• Section 4 requested views on clarifying the liability for unlawful conduct in relation to the Chief Constable.

Respondents were advised that they did not have to answer all questions, with respondents being welcome to respond only to the questions and sections of the report that are relevant to them. A full list of the consultation questions mapped to each area of recommended legislative change is summarised in Appendix A.

2.3 About this report

This report has been prepared by Alma Economics on behalf of the Scottish Government and provides an independent analysis of responses to the Scottish Government's consultation on police complaints, investigations and misconduct.