Our business

• Welcome and Apologies
• Minutes and Action Log from previous meeting
• Acting Commissioner’s update
• Corporate Communications update
• Policy Documents
• HR Proposals
• Training
• Finance
• Any other business

Attendees 
Phil Chapman Director of Operation (PC) (Chair) 
Sharon Smit Acting Commissioner (SS) 
Ilya Zharov Head of Reviews and Policy (IZ) 
Janice Carter Information Officer (JC) agenda item 10 only 
Jennifer Fisher Secretariat (JLF) 
Laura Duguid Finance Manager (LD) 
Lynsay Cooper Communications Officer (LC) 
Raymond Brown Head of Investigations (RB) 
Sharon Clelland Head of Legal Services (SC)

Welcome and Apologies

PC opened the meeting and welcomed all Senior Leadership Team (SLT) members. 

Apologies 
Apologies were noted from Irina Wilkie, Head of Corporate Communications (IW). 

Matters proposed to be considered in private 
SLT agreed to consider agenda items 10-19 in private, for the reasons set out on the agenda.

Minutes and Action Log from previous meeting

Draft Minutes 
SLT approved the minutes of the February 2025 meeting. 

Action Log 
AP3 – RB/SC to review Investigations MOU. 
Update: 18 March 2025 – PC advised he had written to ACC Houston and Katharina Kaspar, Chair of the Scottish police Authority (SPA) Complaints and Conduct Committee,  on 6 March 2025 to highlight lack of progression with the PIRC / Police Scotland MOU. 
Action: ongoing 

AP12 – Establish if LTS and Maternity Leave can be extracted from Annual Leave Balance remaining data reported within CS Performance Report. SS to provide update when available. 
Update: 18 March 2025 – SS advised that any leave ‘debt’ carried by staff on a long term absence, would still be owed upon return to work and as such, should remain within the Performance Reports to ensure that an accurate balance is reflected.   
Action: complete 

AP15 – IZ to provide comparative analysis of conversion rates of Complaints – FLR – CHR, over 3 year period. 
IZ will share comparative analysis with SLT members following meeting. 
Action: complete 

AP16 – Members to provide feedback to Training Coordinator on proposed Individual and Development plans as discussed at February SLT meeting. 
Action: complete 

AP17 – Members to provide feedback to IZ on proposed Child Friendly Complaints Handling Procedures documentation as discussed at February SLT meeting 
Action: complete

Acting Commissioner’s Update

Update Report 
SS provided a summary of the Acting Commissioner’s update report (circulated in advance), highlighting the following areas; 

Commissioner 
Ms Paton will commence post on 1 April 2025 – the Commissioner’s induction programme is currently being drafted by Ruth McCallum, HR Officer and JLF will schedule introductory meetings for each department head for mid/end April 2025. 

Stakeholder Engagement 
SS scheduled to meet with Penelope Cooper, SG Deputy Director of Police Division on 20 March 2025. 

Members noted the update provided. 
 

Corporate Communications Update

Update Report 
LC provided a summary of the Corporate Communications update report (circulated in advance), highlighting the following areas 

Report Publication 
PIRC will publish findings of investigations into the police use of firearms to dispatch two XL Bully dogs on 19 March 2025. 

Email Signature 
LC will share the template signature to SLT members for review/approval. 

Members noted the update provided. 

Policy Documents

PIRC Dignity at Work – March 2025 
SS provided a summary of the changes to the PIRC Dignity at Work policy (March 2025) (circulated in advance). 

Members approved the policy as circulated. 

Further discussions were held in respect of ensuring all policies meet accessibility standards prior to uploading to PIRC intranet/website/circulating to staff. LC noted she was liaising with colleagues within SG Digital Accessibility and Usability Team, in respect of additional accessibility training for PIRC staff. Further update(s) will be provided when available.

HR Proposals

HR Surgery Sessions 
SS provided a summary of the HR proposal (circulated in advance) made on behalf of the Staff Representative Group (SRG). 

Members discussed and recommended that the sessions be rebranded as ‘HR Information Sessions’ (or similar). 

PIRC Suggestion Box 
SS provided a summary of the HR proposal (circulated in advance). 

Members discussed and recommended that this be rebranded as a “PIRC Question Box” (or similar). 

SS advised she would provide the SRG with the outcome of SLT discussions and recommendations made. 

SS further advised that additional guidance for staff, on both matters, would be prepared and circulated to SLT for approval prior to implementation.

Training 

Training Report 
SS provided a summary of the Training report for March 2025 (circulated in advance). 

SS noted 2024/25 had been a busy year for PIRC Training, highlighting a slight overspend of the Training Budget YTD. 

The overspend is due, in part, to the volume of external training courses/programmes delivered within the year i.e. iHasco, ACAS Training, Samaritans: Managing Suicidal Conversations, SPSO - UNCRC Child Friendly Complaints Handling, Microsoft - Visio and Forms, Law Society EDI Certification, Law Society Certificate of Paralegal Practice, ROSPA Training, RSM Audit Training, Police Scotland – IDP Programme, IIISC, Disclosure Training and facilitated visits to Govan Area Control Room. 

Members noted the update provided. 

Finance 

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

• Grant in Aid (GiA) cash drawn down related to spend in February 2025 was £615k
• Staff costs approx. £20k under spent within the month due to staffing vacancies.
• Running costs approx. £144k over spent YTD, due in the main to Legal costs associated with the Public Inquiry.
• Forecast of approx. £50k underspend at the year end reported to SG. 

LD presented members with an overview of the PIRC budget allocation for 2025/2026, noting a £159k budget increase for the coming year. 

LD advised that the budget assumes delivery of the PECSS Bill, pay award (still to be negotiated), incremental pay rises due and 40% of the increase in employers National Insurance contribution. LD advised that the current budget will be challenging to deliver on. 

LD advised she will continue to highlight all financial risks and pressures within the monthly budget monitoring submission provided to SG. 

SS advised she was scheduled to meet with SG Deputy Director, Penelope Cooper on 20 March 2025 to discuss concerns regarding implementation of the PECSS bill within allocated budget and forthcoming business cases (additional resources). 

PC highlighted that a Staff Message will be issued on submission of any business case. 

Members noted the updates provided. 

9. Any other business
Nil of note.