Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 25 November 2020
In 2017, the Justice Committee decided to carry out post-legislative scrutiny of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012, which had established a single police force in Scotland. Thereafter, it became evident that police handling of complaints was a major issue. In 2018, ministers asked Dame Elish Angiolini to conduct an independent review into the effectiveness of the new system for dealing with complaints against the police in Scotland, including how well such complaints were investigated and processes reviewed.
The final report includes a number of welcome recommendations to strengthen the office of the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner. Those include, but are not limited to, reforming the PIRC to include one commissioner and two deputy commissioners, the commissioner being appointed through nomination by the Scottish Parliament—not ministers—and made accountable to the Parliament; giving the PIRC the statutory power to call in an investigation of a complaint, the ability to investigate a current practice or policy of Police Scotland, and the power to recommend suspension of a senior officer if the PIRC considers that not suspending the officer might prejudice the effectiveness of a misconduct investigation; and transferring the statutory preliminary assessment function from the Scottish Police Authority to the PIRC. Crucially, many of those new powers for the PIRC will require legislative change.
The Justice Committee took evidence on the recommendations in Dame Elish’s interim report in June 2019, and a third of the 30 recommendations require important and necessary legislative change. Legislative changes are required, for example, to make provision for dealing with vexatious complaints; to give the PIRC the power, when investigating a serious incident, to compel police officers to attend an interview within a reasonable timescale; to establish a new, statutory board whose members would be appointed through the Scottish public appointments process; to make provision for scrutinising the work and performance of the PIRC; to make provision for vesting in the commissioner or deputy commissioner the power to make recommendations to direct the reconsideration of complaints; and to place a statutory duty on the chief constable to comply with recommendations unless there are sound, overriding, operational or practical reasons for not doing so.
In June 2019, during an evidence session on the interim report, I asked the justice secretary whether the necessary legislation would be prioritised, and he assured me that it would be discussed with partners that summer. Despite that, almost 18 months later, not one of those recommendations has been implemented. I understand that the coronavirus has disrupted the Scottish Government’s legislative programme, but the legislation that is required has not featured anywhere in the Government’s legislative agenda. On the Government amendment and the justice secretary’s remarks, I say to the cabinet secretary that the key stakeholders have met and discussed the interim recommendations. What is urgently required is legislative action from the Scottish Government.