HMICS Police Scotland - Call Handling

Terms of Reference for HMICS Assurance Review

HMICS has published its Terms of Reference for its assurance review of Police Scotland’s Call Handling.

The review has been directed by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice following the tragic incident involving the deaths of John Yuill and Lamara Bell.  It will provide an independent assessment of the operation, systems and procedures in place in Police control centres across Scotland.

It will assess

• The capacity of the systems and the human resource available within the control centres to manage, answer and prioritise calls;
• The capability of the systems and the suitability of the training provided to those who manage, receive, answer and prioritise calls; and
• The process within the control room to ensure that all calls are handled, dispatched and closed appropriately.

HMICS will ensure that appropriate stakeholder consultation, to gather views, is undertaken as part of the assurance review process.

This review will be complementary to the investigation being undertaken by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) into this incident.

It is expected that any recommendations to Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority will identify good practice and support improvement in the current, and future, service delivery.

The HMICS review will be undertaken in terms of Section 74(1) of the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 and will be provided to Scottish Ministers and published in terms of Section 78(1) and (2) of the Act.

An interim report will be given to the Cabinet Secretary by the end of August with the full report completed by the end of October.

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