News

The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner has unveiled her new strategic objectives to support staff to keep delivering the best possible service to communities and partners.

PIRC safeguards the rights of those who come into contact with the police either by investigating incidents involving them or reviewing how the police handle complaints from the public.

The organisation’s mission is to promote and support public confidence in policing through independent, evidence-based oversight.

PIRC’s new strategic objectives are:

• We will deliver independent oversight of policing in Scotland, pursuing continuous improvement in the policing service provided to the public.

• We will build public confidence in PIRC and invest in our own continuous improvement by engaging with service users and stakeholders.

• We will develop our organisational capacity, capability and resilience.

• We will promote a safe, supportive and high-performing workforce.

• We will enhance our organisational foresight, readiness and adaptability.

They are contained in PIRC’s Strategic Plan for 2026-29 and they will be driven forward by the actions set out in PIRC’s Annual Business Plan.

This new strategic direction was informed by the findings of PIRC’s Strategic Review.

Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, Laura Paton, said: “My role is to promote and support public confidence in policing through independent, evidence-based oversight.

“We play a key role in safeguarding the rights of those who come into contact with the police by investigating incidents involving them and reviewing how they handle complaints from the public.

“This scrutiny is essential for maintaining that public trust and confidence in policing.”

She added: “However, there is no doubt that we have faced some extraordinary challenges in delivering this role and this is most notably due to a sharply increasing workload set against resourcing and financing pressure.

“It is therefore with thanks to the efforts of our staff in collaboration with key stakeholders that we carried out a strategic review to assess the risks and challenges - and set our new strategic direction.

“We will of course continue to deliver our statutory duties however it is now entirely appropriate to focus also on the transformational work needed to further develop and improve our service.

“It is my intention to keep building on what has already been achieved while ensuring PIRC is positioned to meet future challenges so that we keep delivering the very best possible service to the public and our partners.”