Justice Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Official Report 452KB pdf

Justice Sub-Committee on Policing (Report Back)

We move quickly on to agenda item 5, which is feedback from the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing on its meeting of 22 June 2017. Following the verbal report, there will be an opportunity for brief comments or questions. I refer members to paper 4, which is a note by the clerk, and invite Mary Fee to provide the sub-committee’s feedback.

The Justice Sub-Committee on Policing met on 22 June 2017 and took evidence from Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, Derek Penman, on his review of openness and transparency in the Scottish Police Authority.

The sub-committee heard that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland had made 11 recommendations, including on holding board and committee meetings in public and making papers publicly available in advance of meetings without any embargo.

Derek Penman highlighted, among other things, issues with the understanding of the chair, the chief executive and all board members of the “On Board” guidance, collective responsibility, supporting processes and relative roles.

Following the evidence session, Andrew Flanagan sent a response to the sub-committee and I want to address a couple of points that he raised.

Last week, Mr Penman told the sub-committee that staff associations think that the current level of engagement is not sufficient and are looking for better ways to engage. In his response, Mr Flanagan says that “stakeholder engagement” was

“championed and endorsed on the Policing 2026 work.”

As the work on the policing 2026 strategy predates Mr Penman’s report, it appears that the staff associations do not share Mr Flanagan’s view. Proper engagement is vital.

The chief inspector’s report concentrates on the roles, awareness and understanding of the chair, the chief executive and board members. While there were some recommendations for improving executive structures, the report does not criticise the hard-working staff in the wider organisation. The key findings are focused on the senior management team, who should focus on making necessary changes to improve the reputation of the SPA and, in turn, the morale of its staff.

The sub-committee will next meet on 14 September 2017.

I am happy to take questions from members.

Do members have any questions or comments for Mary Fee? As there are none, I suspend the meeting briefly, to allow the cabinet secretary to settle into his position.