HMICS Scrutiny plan 2025-28

This scrutiny plan outlines our priorities and scrutiny activities for the 2025-28 period. During the consultation period, we sought to obtain the views of communities across Scotland, using methods including:

• an online public questionnaire;
• discussion with other scrutiny bodies;
• targeted stakeholder engagement (including elected members and local authorities); and
• environmental scanning.

This provided us with a wide range of subject areas to consider for inclusion in this plan. All this activity was supported by a comprehensive communications strategy that allowed us to hear from people and communities across Scotland. More information on our scrutiny planning process can be found in Appendix 2.

We decided to continue with the publication of a three-year plan, after positive feedback on the approach and impact of our previous scrutiny activity. This plan outlines potential areas for scrutiny until March 2028 and we are confident it will build on the previous plan, giving key stakeholders and scrutiny partners a clear understanding about our areas of focus. This will allow Police Scotland and the SPA to consider the effectiveness and efficiency of these areas currently, as well informing the planning of other scrutiny bodies, alongside any ongoing internal scrutiny that policing in Scotland undertakes.

Policing is, of course, a dynamic area, and we will keep this plan under continuous review so that – where such review determines that our impact would be greater in an area not currently covered within this scrutiny plan – we may make changes as we determine necessary, updating the plan accordingly.

Our approach to inspection is supported by our inspection framework, which provides structure to our activities and ensures transparency, consistency and objectivity across our assessments of policing in Scotland.

Our inspection framework has been developed using the EFQM Excellence Model with an increasing focus on the management of change. The model has been adapted to provide a high-level framework suitable for the scrutiny of elements of policing or its governance. It underpins all our scrutiny activity and is sufficiently flexible and adaptable to develop bespoke key lines of enquiry, depending on the work to be undertaken.

Our approach to inspection – methodology

HMICS, through its own commitment to continuous improvement, has adopted an approach to inspections using a methodology which is adapted from the EFQM Framework. This is predominantly based on three key themes, which form the basis of our scrutiny activity, namely:

• Leadership and vision
• Delivery
• Outcomes