Iain Livingstone becomes next Chief Constable of Police Scotland

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has announced the appointment of Iain Livingstone as the next Chief Constable of Police Scotland, taking up the post on Monday 27 August.

The appointment will be for a fixed term of four years with the possibility of extension in line with legislation.

The appointment was made by the SPA and approved by Scottish Ministers in accordance with the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 and follows a robust assessment and selection process.

Susan Deacon, Chair of the SPA and Chair of the Selection Panel who interviewed candidates for the role, announced the appointment. She said : “I am pleased to announce the appointment of Iain Livingstone as Chief Constable of Police Scotland. The decision follows an extremely rigorous and robust selection process which has involved a range of external advice and inputs.

“Iain Livingstone is an outstanding police leader who has made an exceptional contribution to policing in Scotland. I am confident that as Chief Constable, working together with a recently strengthened leadership team, he will provide renewed stability, purpose and direction to Police Scotland after a demanding and challenging period.

“This is a significant milestone in our continued efforts to strengthen the leadership and governance of policing in Scotland. I look forward to working with Iain Livingstone and his team as we continue to develop policing to keep people safe and meet the needs of a changing Scotland.”

Iain Livingstone said: “I am extremely proud and humbled to be appointed as Scotland’s next Chief Constable. It is a great responsibility and opportunity to lead a 22,000 strong team of dedicated and committed professionals, and to harness their ideas and potential in the service of the people of Scotland. Policing has been my life and the demands on it are developing faster today than at any time in my career. It is my job now to lead and drive change in policing to adapt to those challenges and to build on the values, ethos and traditions of policing in Scotland that first attracted me to this profession 26 years ago.”

Cabinet Secretary for Justice Humza Yousaf welcomed the appointment. Mr Yousaf, who approved the SPA’s appointment, said: “I am delighted that the Scottish Police Authority has completed its robust assessment and appointment process, naming Iain Livingstone as Scotland’s new Chief Constable.

“Iain has demonstrated he has the right qualities to lead Police Scotland as the service continues to enhance its ability to tackle crime and keep people safe.

“As Chief Constable of the UK’s second largest police service, Iain will mobilise the skills and expertise of more than 22,000 dedicated officers and staff who have built up national specialist capabilities to tackle key issues of public concern and, alongside community safety partners, contributed to crime falling by around a third from a decade ago and more people feeling safe in their local area.

“Iain will head up a strong senior officer team, providing stability, support and clear direction for Police Scotland’s officers and staff in the months and years ahead. I look forward to working with the new Chief Constable and the SPA as the service continues to strengthen national and local partnerships and how it works with the public in order to help keep crime down and communities safe.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “Iain Livingstone now inherits, on a permanent basis, an organisation that faces a wide range of challenges.

“Officers recently warned that they are so stretched that beat policing has ‘effectively died off entirely’ in some areas while everything about the merger of the British Transport Police points to it needing to be halted.

“Problems are hardwired into the structures of Scottish policing as a result of the SNP’s botched centralisation. Without change, they will persist, irrespective of who is in the leading roles. That is why we need an independent expert commission to recommend reform and repair the damage. That is the kind of reset Police Scotland needs.”

Iain Livingstone

Mr Livingstone has been Police Scotland’s Deputy Chief Constable Designate since May 2016.  Prior to this, he was Deputy Chief Constable for Crime and Operations since Police Scotland was formed in 2013.

He graduated in law from the Universities of Aberdeen and Strathclyde, working as a solicitor in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London before joining the police in 1992. Prior to the formation of Police Scotland, he served with Lothian and Borders Police.

His career has included external attachments to the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland as a special investigator, to Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary as a member of Lord Bonomy’s review of corroboration, and he currently sits on the Scottish Sentencing Council. He was awarded the Queens Police Medal in May 2015.