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You will be directed to the application form at the end of the checklist.
Our checklist will help you decide whether you are ready to send a request for a review of your complaint. It also gives you an idea of whether we are able to help you.
- If we can help you, we will explain the next step in the process. If you are ready to send your request for a review, the checklist explains how you can do this.
- If it’s not something we can help with, you will be signposted to other organisations who may be able to help.
Please log into your Complaint Handling Review account to see how your request is progressing.
For all other enquiries, please email enquiries@pirc.gov.scot or call 01698 542 900.
PIRC provides independent oversight of the way policing bodies operating in Scotland investigate incidents and handle complaints from the public.
We do not oversee policing bodies in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
England and Wales – Independent Office for Police Conduct
Northern Ireland – Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland
You need to first make your complaint to the professional standards department of the policing body concerned and allow them to deal with your complaint before you contact us. We cannot help you until you have done this.
Once you have received the Final Response to your complaint, and if you are dissatisfied with the way your complaint has been handled, you can then ask us to undertake a Complaint Handling Review.
If you have not had any contact from the policing body about your complaint, you will have to contact them directly and ask for an update on how your complaint is progressing.
If you have been contacted about your complaint, but have not received a Final Response letter, it’s likely that the policing body has resolved your complaint through early resolution (Frontline Resolution).
If you no longer accept the resolution/explanation that you have been given by the police to your complaint, you can ask them to investigate your complaint further.
Please note that we do not tend to become involved until you’ve received a letter of response to your complaint from the policing body. The response letter should signpost you to PIRC for a review if you remain dissatisfied.
If you want us to undertake a Complaint Handling Review, you must submit an application form to us within three months of the date of your Final Response letter.
If we receive your request for a review after three months have passed, we may be unable to consider your case unless we are satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances for the delay.
You can provide details of these exceptional circumstances in the application form.
Please remember that you will need a written consent form signed by the complainer to appoint a personal representative.
You can complete the consent form during the application process.
We might not be able to help.
Official rules set out the types of complaint we can and cannot help with, including rules about the type of relationship you have with a policing body.
If this is the case, please contact us.
Next steps
It looks like we may be able to consider your request for a Complaint Handling Review.
You’ll need the following information at hand when you complete our complaint form:
- A copy of your Final Response letter or email from the policing body.
- Your complaint reference number from the policing body. This reference number will begin with the letters ‘CO’ or ‘MI’.
Before starting the Complaint Handling Review form, you must first complete the Consent form.
Start with the consent form
You can opt to either download a PDF version or contact us to request a paper version.
The Consent form must be attached when you are submitting the Complaint Handling Review form. If the Consent form is not attached, we will not be able to proceed with your enquiry.
How to apply
You’ll need the following information at hand when you complete our complaint form:
- A copy of your Final Response letter or email from the policing body.
- Your complaint reference number from the policing body. This reference number will begin with the letters ‘CO’ or ‘MI’.
Use our online form
Use our online form to make a complaint to us about a policing body.
Our online complaint form requires you to create an account. It will allow you to come back to complete, review, and monitor your applications progress. We understand that you may need additional time to consider and complete this form, so you won’t need to complete it in one go.
Other formats available
If you need the form in a different format, for example a paper copy, in Braille, on audio tape, in large print, or in a different language, please reach out to us.
Made a mistake?
If you feel like you have provided inaccurate information, you can restart the checklist at any time.