Justice Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Official Report 576KB pdf

Justice Sub-Committee on Policing (Report Back)

Agenda item 4 is feedback from the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing on its meeting of 28 September 2017. I refer members to paper J/S5/17/29/4, which is a note by the clerk, and invite Mary Fee to provide feedback.

Thank you, convener. The Justice Sub-Committee on Policing met on 28 September, when it took evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Justice about governance of the Scottish Police Authority.

The cabinet secretary told the sub-committee that, in his view, the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 was fit for purpose, but he acknowledged that there have been issues with the way in which roles and responsibilities have been taken forward. He indicated that an interim chief executive should be in place within a couple of weeks and that the appointment of a new chair was currently under way. He described the current review of the SPA and the appointment of a new chair as an opportunity to improve some areas, for example by strengthening input to the SPA from local scrutiny committees by providing them with a formal role.

The sub-committee’s next meeting is scheduled for Thursday 26 October, when it will hold a round-table evidence session on Police Scotland’s engagement with black and minority ethnic communities.

I am happy to take questions.

If there are no comments or questions, we will move into private session. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 24 October 2017, when our main business will be further consideration of the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Repeal) (Scotland) Bill.