Annual report 2023-24

HMICS activity is aligned to those values detailed within the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework, namely: we are a society that treats all our people with kindness, dignity and compassion, respects the rule of law and acts in an open and transparent way.

Our activity seeks to support the achievement of the national outcomes. In particular:

• we live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe
• we live in communities that are creative and their vibrant and diverse cultures are expressed and enjoyed widely
• we grow up loved, safe and respected so that we realise our full potential
• we respect, protect and fulfil human rights and live free from discrimination.

The purpose of our work is to add value and support continuous improvement in the delivery of policing in Scotland. Where relevant, we will make recommendations to Police Scotland and the SPA that aim to improve policing. Through engagement, these recommendations are regularly reviewed and will benchmark change.

The Scottish Government’s Performance Framework shows the positive effect of Police Scotland’s contribution, with crime victimisation data indicating that fewer citizens are becoming victims of crime.

Figure 1 – Crime victimisation

This positive measure is further supported by the perceptions of crime in local areas. Percentage of respondents who think crime in their area has stayed the same or reduced
in the past two years.

Figure 2 – Perception of local crime rate

Police Scotland is not the only contributor to these outcomes, but its focus on problem solving and working collaboratively is a strong factor in improvements across community outcomes throughout Scotland. HMICS’s joint inspection work on services for children and adults needing additional support is also strong factor in community resilience, adding to the positive outcomes for children.

Our inspection work does not end with the publication of our reports. We also carry out follow–up work to assess evidential requirements and monitor the progress of recommendations, through regular liaison with Police Scotland and SPA. We also identify good practice that can be rolled out across Scotland.

During 2022-23, we discharged 34 recommendations and made a total of 36. The final figure for those that remained open at the end of that scrutiny year was 84.

We agreed to close 28 recommendations in 2023-24, and in the course of our inspections made a further 99, resulting in 155 outstanding recommendations at the end of March this year. These were made to Police Scotland, SPA and the Scottish Government (some of which were joint). Following our inspections with Healthcare Improvement Scotland, we also made joint recommendations involving NHS Boards and partners.

Of note, a number of older recommendations made following our inspections of MAPPA (multi-agency protection arrangements), home detention curfew, and undercover policing, remain open.

The launch of our new website will include a recommendations tracker giving real-time information on progress of all open recommendations.

We can inspect other UK police services that operate in Scotland, and are members of the National Preventive Mechanism, inspecting police custody centres to monitor the treatment and conditions for detainees. This year saw the first NPM conference since the pandemic. Members met and considered future work plans and how to work more collaboratively across public sector scrutiny bodies.

HMICS website

We mentioned in our 2022/23 annual report that work was underway to procure and develop a new, more informative website. That work has now been completed and it is anticipated that that the website is planned to be live in September 2024.