Governance and Accountability of Policing in Scotland

1. Governance and Accountability of Policing in Scotland Presented by: Iain Whyte 10 November 2016

2. Overview • Historical context • The role of SPA • Challenges of Reform and beyond • The journey so far (and some learning) • Principles of governance and assurance going forward

3. Context • Merger of 10 policing bodies into a national single police service in April 2013. • SPA was initially populated from September 2012 with Ministerial-appointed Board Members and small number of staff. • Number of agencies who hold policing to account for different purposes • Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Scotland • Police Investigations and Review Commissioner • Audit Scotland • Local Scrutiny Bodies (Local Authorities)

4. The Role of SPA • Setting the strategic direction of policing • Allocating funding • Monitoring performance • Driving continuous improvement • Promoting the policing principles • Holding the Chief Constable to account for the policing of Scotland

5. The Role of SPA (cont) BUT… also currently responsible for other areas: • Legal employer of all civilian staff • Delivery of forensics services • Delivery of independent custody visiting • Recruitment and conduct matters for Senior Officers • CEO is Accountable Officer to Scottish Parliament

6. Challenges of Reform and Beyond • Meeting budget reductions / efficiency savings • Managing political priorities • Agreement on respective roles and responsibilities between policing bodies • Allocation of resources • Level of activity undertaken by Board Members • Information provision from Police Scotland

7. The Journey So Far

8. Inquiry into the public impact of Police Scotland’s Firearms Standing Authority – case study Screen capture, Press & Journal, nline 11/07/16

9. The SPA Inquiry was established to assess four key issues: • what the level and nature of public concerns are over the current Police Scotland policy in relation to the deployment of a limited number of firearms officers on routine patrol; • how effectively Police Scotland are engaging with the public and considering the impact on communities in implementing their approach; • how Police Scotland can best address any public concerns and provide necessary reassurance to communities; and • what, if any, lessons might be learned around how operational decisions with wider strategic or community impact are communicated to national and local oversight bodies and other key interests.

10. The SPA Scrutiny Inquiry comprised four elements: • a public call for written evidence which received over 200 responses from organisations and individuals; • a series of public evidence sessions (held in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness); • a national public attitudes survey of over 1,000 people; and • a report on effective police and community engagement by Professor Martin Innes of Cardiff University.

11. Scrutiny findings Among its key findings, the scrutiny inquiry found that: • a public attitudes survey of over 1,000 people found that public concerns about armed police may have been less widespread in Scotland than media coverage and civic comment may have suggested; • Police Scotland underestimated the community feelings that would be generated among a significant minority of the population from armed police officers being sent to routine calls and incidents, and that in some parts of the country this represented a perceived and significant change in policing style; and • the absence of a proactive communications and engagement strategy on armed policing ahead of implementation in 2013 contributed to subsequent public misunderstandings around the scale and deployment of armed officers in Scotland.

12. Inquiry recommendations The SPA inquiry made a number of key recommendations including: • that Police Scotland should undertake prior engagement with [stakeholders] prior to making any further ‘non time-critical’ adjustments to the standing authority, deployment, or mode of carriage of firearms; • Police Scotland should ensure advance engagement with the SPA on all issues which are likely to have a significant public impact, and that this should be captured in a public document that sets out expectations for wider engagement with national and local government, communities and other groups; and • Police Scotland should ensure that all operational policies are subject to both community and equality impact assessments prior to implementation, and SPA should seek assurances that these have been undertaken and used to inform the decision-making process.

13. Academic report on strategic police-community engagement “What is needed therefore is the equivalent of the Public Understanding of Science approach for crime and policing. Positioned in this way, strategic community engagement work … would be about providing police with an evidence-base to inform some of the difficult and consequential decisions that have to be taken.” Strategic Police-Community Engagement: A Report to the Scottish Police Authority - Professor Martin Innes - November 2014

14. The Journey So Far (cont)

15. Principles of Governance and Assurance • Universally understood • Able to be complied with • Effective • Proportionate • Risk based • Transparent • Responsive • Cost effective

16. Next Steps for SPA… • New governance framework for policing • Public meetings / Private discussions • Enhanced Scheme of Delegation • Revised Organisational Structures • Revised remits of what SPA actually does • Working within current legislation but thinking differently • Appropriate oversight, which is proportionate • Collaborative working where possible, but holding to account where needed

17. Questions?