THE new chairwoman of Scotland’s police governing body has underlined she has ended the controversial practice of “closed” board meetings from which journalists and members of the public are barred.
Susan Deacon, who took over the top position at the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) in November, outlined the move in a submission to MSPs on Holyrood’s justice committee ahead of her first appearance before it today.
“The previous practice of holding public meetings and closed meetings has been replaced and from now on there will simply be meetings of the SPA Board with consideration of items of private business as necessary, in line with established practice by other public bodies,” the SPA document said.
The practice of holding meetings behind closed doors was introduced by previous chair Andrew Flanagan and strongly criticised by MSPs, with SNP Alex Neil telling Flanagan at one point “it’s not the Kremlin you’re running.”
A new Governance framework was agreed by the SPA board after a review by Flanagan, commissioned by Justice Secretary Michael Matheson, which led to some committee meetings being held in private and board papers only being made available on the day of the meeting. Flanagan stood down in June last year.
The SPA is currently at the centre of a controversy over its handling of the ongoing suspension of Police Scotland’s Chief Constable Phil Gormley who is at the centre of a number of misconduct complaints, all of which he denies. It was also criticised for poor governance and a lack of transparency in a report last month by the public spending watchdog Audit Scotland.
Deacon, a former Labour health minister, who replaced Andrew Flanagan, is also expected to tell MSPs today what improvements she has made in terms of transparency and governance since her appointment. The SPA submission describes a number of measures which she is taking including recruiting new members and improving the way complaints are dealt with.
“The Board is being strengthened and developed. Five new members are currently being recruited and work is in progress to review performance and to provide greater training and development for Board members, in particular with regard to the roles, duties and responsibilities of a public authority,” it said.
“A dedicated Complaints and Conduct Committee has been re-established to bring focus to the often complex issues that surround senior officer complaints. It has already met, underpinned by improved support process, and enhanced professional advice. These changes mark the beginning of an ongoing process of accelerated improvement.”
Deacon’s appointment in November came at a time of immense pressure among senior levels of the force, with Gormley and other high-ranking officers under investigation.
Last month the police watchdog released a critical report on the SPA’s complaints handling system.
The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) examined how complaints against senior police officers, SPA staff and its board were dealt with.
The report — which covers the period between April 2015 and March 2017 — also found a lack of transparency on decisions made. It did not include recent allegations made against Gormley and other high ranking officers within Police Scotland.
The Pirc audit found the authority received 14 complaints about senior officers during the period that should have been treated as potential misconduct allegations. However, it noted only seven of these cases were referred to the complaints committee.
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