Attendees:

Ilya Zharov              Head of Reviews and Policy (IZ)

Irina Wilkie              Head of Communications (IW)

Jennifer Fisher        Executive Assistant (Minutes) (JLF)

Laura Duguid          Finance Manager (LD)

Laura Paton            Commissioner (LP)

Phil Chapman         Director of Operations (PC) (Chair)

Raymond Brown     Head of Investigations (RB)

Sharon Clelland      Head of Legal Services (SC)

Sharon Smit            Head of Corporate Service & Accountable Officer (SS)

Steven Ross             Information Coordinator (SR) 

Minutes and Action Log from previous meeting

Draft Minutes

SLT approved the minutes of the August 2025 meeting.

Action Log

The current action log was reviewed - all concluded actions were removed. 

Commissioner’s Update Report 

LP provided an overview of the Commissioner’s Update report (circulated in advance), highlighting the following: 

Sheku Bayoh Public Inquiry

Further update will be provided by Head of Legal Services.

Criminal Justice Committee (CJC) – Pre-budget scrutiny 2026/2027

PIRC response submitted on 9 September 2025. Further update to be provided when available. 

Stakeholder Engagements

LP advised she was scheduled to meet with the Deputy Crown Agent on 1 October 2025 and invited members to identify any topics or concerns they would like raised during the meeting. 

Members noted the update provided.

Corporate Communications Update Report

In addition to the report, (circulated in advance), IW provided the following update: 

Strategic Review, Business Plan and Annual Report

All items advancing as planned and expected to be finalised by mid-October, after which the Annual Report and Business Plan will be published.  

Media lines

“if asked” media responses prepared for several sensitive / complex investigations / CHRs. 

Internal Communications

Five internal communications issued within the month – various topics. 

Social media (LinkedIn) engagement metrics have declined, despite an increase in follower count. Upcoming publication of the Annual Report presents an opportunity to re-engage followers and boost platform activity. 

Members noted the updates provided. 

Training Update Report

The training update report was taken as read and accepted without further discussion. 

PC asked for clarification regarding invoicing for training delivered by Police Scotland to PIRC staff. SS agreed to review with Training Coordinator and provide an update. 

Finance

Management Accounts to end August 2025

LD provided an overview of the Management Accounts to the end of August 2025 (circulated in advance), highlighting the following:

• Grant in Aid (GIA) cash drawn down related to spend was £27k below original budget for August 2025.

• Vacancy Efficiency has been set as a negative budget line to support overall budget balancing for 2025/2026.

• Staff costs are underspent by approx. £101 YTD, attributable to ongoing staffing vacancies. This phased underspend has been forecast across all months and is expected to be resolved following the conclusion of pay negotiations. 

• Accommodation costs were overspent by approx. £53k in August 2025, due to timing of invoice submissions, increased maintenance costs and costs for hiring Air Conditioning units during the summer months. 

Members noted the updates provided.

Policy Documents

PIRC Artificial Intelligence – Employee Guide

Draft AI Employee Guide was circulated to members via email on 27 August 2025. JLF requested that comments / feedback were provided to the Information Officer by 19 September 2025. 

Members discussed the use of AI technology, acknowledging that the circulated AI guidance should be treated as an evolving document subject to future updates. 

LP expressed concerns about unrestricted use of AI tools and requested that the guidance document include strong caveats, clearly stating that AI tools should be used in a limited capacity and must not be employed in relation to  drafting investigation or complaint handling reports. 

PC advised that the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) had preliminary guidance in development. He agreed to follow up with the NCSC to determine when this guidance would be available for circulation. 

Acceptable use of IT Policy

Members agreed to launch the Acceptable Use of IT Policy following the publication of the revised AI Guidance

AOB

Nil of note.