Policing for a safe, protected and resilient Scotland, the new Joint Strategy for Policing, and the Annual Police Plan 2020/21 have now been launched.
Following a period of public consultation running from January to March 2020, on 25 March the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) Board met and agreed the new Joint Strategy for Policing, Policing for a safe, protected and resilient Scotland.
Police Scotland’s Annual Police Plan 2020/21 has also now been finalised. It was laid in the Scottish Parliament on 31 March 2020.
Policing for a safe, protected and resilient Scotland
Significant progress has been made in the three years since our first long-term strategy was published and the time was right to consider the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in an ever-changing, uncertain and increasingly complex environment.
The Scottish Government updated its Strategic Police Priorities, prompting a refresh of the Scottish Police Authority’s and Police Scotland’s strategic police plan and long term strategy for policing.
This has resulted in a new Joint Strategy for Policing, Policing for a safe, protected and resilient Scotland which sets out the kind of police service we believe we should be and that we will all be working towards.
This continues to build on the progress seen under the previous strategy, Serving a Changing Scotland, and describes the future of policing using our strategic outcomes and objectives so that we can clearly see the positive impact that this will make for colleagues and the public.
The strategy reflects the need to refocus and redirect resources to ensure that officers and staff are fully supported as they respond with commitment and professionalism to the needs of communities. Their safety and wellbeing are paramount and we are committed to ensuring they receive the support and assistance they need.
To read the new strategy, please click here:
To find out more about the public consultation and response, please click here.
Annual Police Plan 2020
Our Annual Police Plan 2019/20 (APP) is also framed around the strategic outcomes that describe the impact and difference Police Scotland aims to make to the lives of people across Scotland.
The plan describes clearly how we will prioritise our resources towards the issues that cause the most harm to people and communities, in order to have the greatest impact by outlining our objectives and our activity across our service.
Basing performance around outcomes means that when we are reporting progress, we will be able to describe and demonstrate the impact of policing on Scotland’s communities. The performance framework is being refreshed at present and this will fully align to the strategic outcomes and objectives set out in the Joint Strategy and the APP. This will provide the means to monitor and measure progress on our strategic outcomes and priorities for policing through the quarterly performance reporting process.
We will continue to review our delivery of this plan to take into account recent developments in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic declared by the World Health Organisation on 11 March, and the requirements of the Scottish and UK Governments as this develops. At this point, the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is yet to be fully understood.
The Annual Police Plan 2020/21 can be found here.
