Chamber and committees

I am sure that members will come back with some more questions on that interesting notion around an ethics culture survey. That is certainly a new one on me.

I have one follow-up question around breaches of the code and the implications of breaches. What came into my head when you set that out was how easy or difficult the practicalities of being able to respond to breaches of the code would be, given the vast range of breaches that could take place. Do you have a view on that?

Recommendation 6 in the “HMICS Thematic Inspection of Organisational Culture in Police Scotland”, which was published in December last year, is:

“Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority should reinforce the human rights and ethics-based approach for all policing activity.”

I think that Victim Support Scotland’s submission refers to that. It seems that different areas of work are all coming back to the same conclusions. I open this question up to all members of the panel. Will the bill in its current form address that recommendation and what we have just heard regarding the public sector equality duty?

I warmly welcome to the meeting Chief Superintendent Rob Hay from the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents; David Kennedy, who is general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation; and David Malcolm, who is branch secretary of the Unison police staff Scotland branch. Thank you for your written evidence and for joining us today.

I intend to allow around an hour and a half for this evidence session. I will start with Chief Superintendent Hay and move across the panel.

I have a couple of questions about the proposed duty of candour. Do you think that the duty of candour, as set out in the bill, is sufficient in respect of ensuring the timely co-operation of police officers and staff in investigations? Is more required, or do you have a different view on the duty of candour? For example, one issue that has come up is whether it should include a duty of co-operation. There are a few sub-questions in there.

Okay. Thank you. That is helpful.

I ask David Kennedy the same question.

Thank you.

Kate Wallace, I will come to you and then open up questions to members. The Victim Support Scotland submission sets out support for a requirement for a code of ethics. It says:

“The need for a robust ethical framework to policing is also underscored by a recent inspection by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, which made a number of recommendations to improve underlying culture within Scotland’s police force.”

Some of the recommendations do, indeed, speak to improved leadership behaviours, delivering a set of actions to address fundamental inequalities between officers and staff and so on. The submission also says:

“it is crucially important that the Code is both read and fully understood by all constables”.

The issue therefore comes back to the effectiveness of the code and the understanding that officers and staff have of what it means to them. Could you expand a little bit on that position?

I have one final point. The first recommendation in the report relates to improving

“leadership behaviours across the organisation”.

I was interested in your comments on equality and diversity training being resumed in 2021. Was the change in the delivery of equality and diversity training anything to do with the amalgamation of the eight forces into one? As I understand it—and from Rona Mackay’s reaction, this is her understanding, too—that is a key part of probationer training in particular.

Thanks. That was helpful.

I will hand over to you.

I have a follow-up question. Have you taken soundings on the views of staff on the duty of candour proposal and the implications that that would have for police staff as opposed to officers? Do you sense how popular that might be?

I will bring in Sharon Dowey and then Pauline McNeill.