The Association of Scottish Police Superintendents (ASPS) has decided to withdraw its backing from Police Scotland’s annual staff survey because of concerns about how feedback is collated on the force’s leadership.
Currently, responses from officers about the Superintendents and Chief Superintendents who lead their teams are grouped in with feedback about chief officer-level ranks.
ASPS President Rob Hay said that by grouping chief officers in with superintendent ranks, there is little opportunity for meaningful scrutiny of the force’s most senior officers.
He added that officers’ views should be captured in a way that makes it clear and unambiguous which group of senior leaders is being referred to.
Rob said: “By grouping local senior managers with the Executive leadership function, this prevents distinct, meaningful feedback on either group. This has been raised repeatedly with ASPS office holders, who have, in turn, raised the issue with Police Scotland.
“While the Association accepts that members may want to provide feedback on a range of issues via the survey, until such times as Police Scotland show they are willing to act on our feedback our advice is not to engage with the survey.”