Police authority chief to step down

The chief executive of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) is to take early retirement and is set to receive a payoff when he leaves.

The departure of John Foley was announced yesterday by the SPA, which set out structural changes it said would “make the role in its present form redundant”.

Mr Foley had faced calls to resign after an inspection found “shortcomings” in his capacity to provide expert advice and support to the SPA board.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) concluded this was a “fundamental weakness” in governance arrangements at the SPA.

A second critical HMICS report published in June concluded that the SPA and Police Scotland had failed to deliver improvements to forensic services.

SPA chairman Andrew Flanagan announced his resignation earlier that month after MSPS raised serious concerns about transparency at the SPA.

The SPA said Mr Foley would stay on until the conclusion of the 201617 accounts at the end of October adding that the board had “agreed a payment to Mr Foley in lieu of his contractual notice, in addition to his eligibility for an early retirement payment”.