Executive review of Scottish Police Authority a ‘missed opportunity’

An executive review of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) that makes 17 recommendations on how the SPA Executive can support the SPA Board to deliver its statutory functions has been described as “a missed opportunity for wider reform”.

Responding to the report, conducted by SPA deputy chair Nicola Marchant and Western Isles Council chief executive Malcolm Burr, Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP said: “The Scottish Police Authority has made a catalogue of bad decisions at the expense of police officers, staff and the public they serve. But they certainly aren’t the only ones at fault in the short but checkered history of police centralisation.

“This report is welcome as far as it goes but it represents a missed opportunity for real reform.

“This was a comparatively narrow examination of the SPA Board’s capacity, support and approach but the problems are so much deeper. The report didn’t look at the roles of all the other key players, not least the Justice Secretary, chief officers, Parliament and local councils.

“The whole system of checks and balances is broken. It is time SNP ministers accepted that what we really need is an independent expert commission to examine the structures that govern Scottish policing as a whole.”

The review states: “Most of the issues we have considered in the course of the review relate to the need to redefine both roles and relationships, as well as the culture, within the organisation. Our findings indicate that, by and large, the roles and relationships within the SPA and between the SPA and key internal and external stakeholders need to be reset to operate as originally intended.

“This assessment is particularly relevant as regards to the business critical role of the CEO/AO and the Board who, by not operating at a sufficiently strategic level, have not provided the SPA with the required leadership and direction. Hence, they have not supported the strategic positioning of the SPA in the policing and civic landscape in Scotland.”

Read the SPA Executive Review here