Scottish Police Authority and Scottish Government meeting: May 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Angela Constance MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs 
• Martyn Evans, Chair, Scottish Police Authority
• Chris Brown, Deputy Chief Executive, Scottish Police Authority
• Graham Thomson, Deputy Director, Police Division, Scottish Government
• Ibrahim Ojekunle, Police Division, Scottish Government (note)

Items and actions

Upcoming SPA Board meeting

The Chair spoke about the individual elements associated with the development and introduction of a revised model of policing, highlighting that while there will be progress on some workstreams this year, the overall programme will take several years to be fully realised. The Chair highlighted that the oversight group that the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) have set up to oversee the work on the revised model is next scheduled to meet on 15 May, stressing the need to have a stable governance structure to ensure a consistent approach to service delivery. He noted the importance of being able to articulate a clear vision of what is imagined under the programme and that there is clear messaging to support and explain why evolution is required.

The Cabinet Secretary affirmed her support for the Chief Constable's commitment to a revised model of policing and to keep Scotland safe. She noted Police Scotland commitment to increase the number of police officers throughout the course of the year with the acknowledgement that the 2024/25 budget settlement provides the resources to enable recruitment to take place to increase officer capacity to 16,600.

Discussion took place about the pilot that had taken place in the north-east of Scotland and the plans that are in place to roll this out further. The Chair confirmed that it is being rolled out in phases to allow for learning to be applied. A comprehensive update is expected at the next Policing Performance Committee meeting on 11 June.

Hate crime

The Chair highlighted the political and media debate on the implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 and the risk posed to the reputation and role of policing. He stressed that while he was content that the approach adopted by Police Scotland was appropriate and proportionate, he felt that more could have been done to proactively explain and publish information in advance on how the Act would be policed in practice. He also highlighted that he was keen to ensure that written guidance was published as soon as possible, and that the data provided from Police Scotland could be refined, to provide them with the information required to scrutinise effectively. 

The Cabinet Secretary agreed about the importance of clear messaging to avoid misinformation circulating. She reflected that there were lessons that could be learned from the implementation of the Hate Crime Act that could be used to improve the introduction and implementation of Bills in future. The Chair agreed and noted the importance of pre-legislation engagement and public communication.

Drug driving

The Cabinet Secretary asked for the Chair’s view on progress made towards processing drug driving cases within appropriate timescales, and the ability of SPA and justice partners to meet a return to a 6-month statutory time limit for processing drug driving cases.

The Chair and Deputy Chief Executive highlighted that there is a considerable amount of stability in Eurofins’ performance, who are responsible for processing outsourced drug driving cases, and had confidence in SPA Forensics ability, in conjunction with Eurofins, to meet the time limit. They highlighted that further work is taking place to move to a more effective and efficient long-term sustainable module.

Strategic approach to pay

The Cabinet Secretary and Chair discussed the importance of taking a strategic approach to pay negotiations that was cognisant of the wider fiscal environment, highlighting that public sector pay metrics were expected to be agreed and published shortly.

AOB

The Chair stated that the HMICS had provided the SPA with a copy of their upcoming report on their review of SPA for factual accuracy checking in advance of publication and was pleased to note that the report recognises the improvements that have been since the last inspection.