Our business

Attendees

Amanda Black         Head of Legal Services (AB)

Ilya Zharov              Head of Reviews & Policy (IZ)

Irina Wilkie              Head of Communications (IW)

Janice Carter           Information Officer (JC)

Jennifer Fisher         Executive Assistant (Minutes) (JLF)

Laura Duguid          Finance Manager (LD)

Laura Paton             Commissioner (LP)

Raymond Brown     Head of Investigations (RB)

Sharon Smit            Head of Corporate Services/Accountable Officer (SS)

Welcome and Apologies

LP opened the meeting and welcomed attendees.

Apologies

Apologies were noted from Phil Chapman, Director of Operations.

Matters proposed to be considered in private.

Attendees agreed to consider agenda items 9 - 17 in private, for the reasons set out on the agenda.

Minutes and Action Log from previous meeting

Minutes of the March 2026 meeting were approved.

Action Log

AP34: Heads of Departments to identify and submit any potential end of year spending proposals for consideration.

Action: complete

AP36: LD to determine whether additional CLUE licences are requires following recent recruitment campaigns for Administrators and Investigators. 

Action: complete

All completed actions were removed from the live action log. 

Commissioner’s Update Report 

Update Report

LP provided an overview of the Commissioner’s Update report circulated in advance.

Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry

The Chair, Lord Colbeck, wrote to core participants inviting written closing submissions and to advise that there will not be a hearing to receive oral submissions. In addition, the Inquiry will not circulate its own closing submissions, this reflects the passage of time and that Senior Counsel to the Inquiry were unable to return to the Inquiry, due to existing commitments. At this stage, the Chair does not intend to appoint new Counsel to the Inquiry. 

The final deadline for the completion and submission of written closing submissions has been set for 18 September 2026.

Complaint Backlog – Operation Glade

On 23 March, LP, PC and IZ met with representatives from the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and Police Scotland to the current complaint handling backlog within Police Scotland, During the discussion Police Scotland provided and over of the backlog and the challenges contributing to it. PIRC reiterated its ongoing support to Police Scotland in strengthening and improving complaint handling processes. 

A number of actions were identified during the meeting and are currently being taken forward by the relevant parties. It was agreed that the group will reconvene in three months time to review progress and maintain momentum in relation to the actions raised. 

Separately, LP and IZ are scheduled to meet with colleagues from the SPA later today to review PIRC’s Complaint Handling Assessment & Reporting Toolkit (CHART), in advance of sharing the toolkit with Police Scotland. 

Members noted the updates provided.

Communications Update

Update Report

IW provided an overview of the Communications Update report, circulated in advance.

Strategic Plan 

A draft Strategic Plan was shared with SLT members earlier in the day. Members were asked to submit feedback to Gerry Brown, Strategic Review Delivery Coordinator, by 28 April 2026.

Statutory Advisory Board

The communications briefing and associated timeline have been shared with the Chair and Board members. A staff communication will be issued on 24 April, ahead of website and social media updates scheduled for 27 April 2026. 

Reviews – Website and Social Media

It was agreed that a regular cycle of newsworthy outcomes delivered by the Reviews team will be added to the PIRC website and social media channels. These updates will commence following the election. IW will meet regularly with Review Officer Davit to identify and plan future updates for release, subject to approval from IZ and LP.

Communications activity and measurement

IW reported that, although no posts were published in the previous month, social media engagement remained broadly stable, with page views down 58%, visitor numbers down 6% and follower numbers standing at 1,014, reflecting an increase of 24.

Members noted the updates provided.

Training

Training Update Report

The Training report had been circulated in advance of the meeting and was noted without discussion. 

SS reminded attendees that completed Training Logs must be returned to Hazel Wyper, Training Coordinator, at the conclusions of each staff member’s year-end appraisal meeting. Discussion took place regarding responsibility for completion of the Training Log , and SS confirmed that this rests with the individual members of staff. 

SS requested support of the Heads of each department to ensure that all staff attend mandatory training sessions. Where attendance is not possible, line managers should advise the Training Coordinator of the reason for non-attendance. 

SS further advised that a Management Essentials training session had been delivered earlier in the month, and that additional, more focused management training sessions are under consideration for later in the year. 

Finance

Management Accounts to end March 2026

LD provided an overview of the Management Accounts to end March 2026, highlighting the following:

Salary costs are £44k overspent year to date (YTD), largely driven by increased overtime costs within Investigations and to meet operational demands. 

Running costs show a £71k overspend within the month, resulting in a £69k underspend YTD against budget. Variances reflect higher than anticipated expenditure later in the year, which has utilised earlier underspends. 

Accommodation costs are £79k overspent YTD, primarily due to increased maintenance charges at Hamilton House, the end of the rent-free period and one off works including air conditioning and security access installations. 

There remains an underspend in legal fees attributable to delays tin the Public Inquiry.

The overall YTD position show expenditure £13.8k under budget, indicating small underspend at year end. This position has been highlighted to SG.

Presentation – Budget Update

LD presented members with an overview of the 2026/27 PIRC budget outlining the overall position and key financial factors informing how the budget will be balanced. 

It was noted that the budget remains subject to confirmation and that further detail will be provided once the budget allocation letter is received. 

LP thanked LD for the presentation, noting that it was helpful when considered alongside the additional discussions held around the table. LP requested that budget updates continue to be presented to SLT in this format. 

Members noted the updates provided.

Policy Documents

SLT Terms of Reference

The SLT Terms of Reference (ToR) were circulated as part of the annual review process. The ToR were approved by members. 

PIRC Risk Management Police

PIRC Data Protection Policy

PIRC Procurement Manual

PIRC Government Procurement Card Policy

All policies submitted for review were approved.

Any other business

Nil of note.