Subordinate Legislation
Scottish Police Services Authority (Police Support Services) (Modification) Order 2007 (Draft)
We will now consider two pieces of subordinate legislation, neither of which need take us terribly long. Agenda item 2 is consideration of the draft Scottish Police Services Authority (Police Support Services) (Modification) Order 2007, which is subject to the affirmative procedure.
The cabinet secretary has been joined by Christie Smith, who is a deputy director in the Scottish Government—in the police: organised crime and support services division—and Fiona McClean, who is a senior principal legal officer in the Scottish Government's legal directorate.
I refer members to the draft order, the cover note—paper J/S3/07/12/11—and the letter from the cabinet secretary of 22 November. I invite the cabinet secretary to speak to and move motion S3M-904.
I recommend that the committee agrees to motion S3M-904, on the draft Scottish Police Services Authority (Police Support Services) (Modification) Order 2007.
The Scottish Police Services Authority was established with wide cross-party support by the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2006. The SPSA is already responsible for providing training, criminal records, forensic science and some information and communications technology services to Scottish police forces on a national basis, as well as for maintaining the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.
The previous Administration proposed the establishment of the SPSA following a joint review by the Scottish Government, ACPOS and the Scottish police authorities conveners forum. I gave the enabling legislation my full support when it went through Parliament, as did the main parties. The rationale for establishing the SPSA was to bring police support services together and to deliver them to Scottish police forces through a single national organisation, instead of splitting responsibility for service delivery among eight different police forces and police boards.
The SPSA came fully into being on 1 April this year, and it is already clear that there is enormous scope for realising efficiencies and taking advantage of economies of scale, without compromising either the quality of service or the operational independence of chief constables. The new forensic service for which the SPSA is responsible is a case in point. For the first time, we have a national service that deals with the full range of forensic services, from collecting evidence at crime scenes, through expert and targeted analysis, to presenting evidence to court. That allows for a consistently high level of expertise at all stages of the process, a more efficient service through the specialisation of tasks, and closer co-operation with the Crown Office on, for example, national standards and turnaround times.
In a nutshell, the purpose of the draft order is to amend the 2006 act by creating a new ICT police support service. If approved by Parliament, the order will come into force on 1 April 2008. From that date, the SPSA will be responsible for providing ICT services to all eight police forces. Other orders and schemes will be brought forward to transfer ICT staff and property from police boards to the SPSA on the same date. We will make a financial transfer from police GAE to the SPSA that represents the cost of delivering the service. The transfer will be cost neutral as far as police boards and police forces are concerned.
The proposal that the SPSA should assume responsibility for providing all police force ICT services was set out in a memorandum of understanding that was drawn up between the previous Administration and ACPOS in June 2006. I have sent the committee a copy of that agreement, which helpfully sets out some of the thinking behind the proposal. Put briefly, it does not make sense in this day and age for each police force to develop, provide and maintain its own in-house ICT service. We need national ICT systems to ensure that every part of the Scottish police service has equal access to the same information and immediate links to information that is held by forces throughout the UK and, increasingly, the rest of the world. It does not make sense for different parts of the Scottish police service to spend money on developing alternative ICT systems to meet the same need.
The purpose of the order is to complete the process of implementing the agreement that was reached between the Government and ACPOS in June 2006. Preparations on the ground are already well advanced, and last year ACPOS brought all eight police force ICT departments into a single body to facilitate the transfer. A joint ACPOS-SPSA project team has been working hard to ensure that the transfer will be smooth and seamless and that there is continuity of service to police forces throughout the period of transition.
Service level agreements that will be put in place between the SPSA and each of the eight police boards will set out in detail what ICT service they will receive. There will be flexibility in negotiating the agreements, to take account of local circumstances and requirements. The process of drawing up SLAs and monitoring performance against them will greatly improve the management information that is available to police forces and police boards. It will, therefore, enhance the ability of customers to hold the SPSA to account as the provider of the service.
The SPSA is already responsible for the information technology systems and services that previously were provided by the Scottish Criminal Record Office and for the Scottish police information strategy, which since 2000 has developed a limited number of national IT systems for police forces. The draft order will complete the process of bringing Scottish police ICT staff and functions together into a single national body that will be responsible for providing high-quality ICT services to Scottish police forces and for accelerating the delivery of the national ICT convergence strategy that ACPOS has developed.
In giving evidence to the committee a few weeks ago, the president of ACPOS, Chief Constable McKerracher, said:
"we strongly support the SPSA as it develops and finds its feet. We had huge success in drawing the forensic science services into a single service for Scotland, which happened in April this year. We look forward to the information technology directorate passing over to the SPSA next April. We fully support having such centrally provided services and support the potential for more such services."—[Official Report, Justice Committee, 6 November 2007; c 245.]
I, too, have strongly supported the establishment of the SPSA and the long-standing proposal that it should assume responsibility for providing all ICT services to Scottish police forces from April 2008. That is the right way forward for the Scottish police service, and it has the potential to transform the delivery of a support service that has long been problematic.
I move,
That the Justice Committee recommends that the draft Scottish Police Services Authority (Police Support Services) (Modification) Order 2007 be approved.
Motion agreed to.
Remote Monitoring Requirements (Prescribed Courts) (Scotland) Revocation Regulations 2007 (SSI 2007/508)
Item 3 is consideration of an instrument under the negative procedure. I do not think that we need you for this item, Mr MacAskill. Thank you for your attendance.
Thank you.
Are members content with the regulations?
Members indicated agreement.