Section one Context Police custody While there have been no relevant legislative developments, there have been a number of changes in policy and practice in policing, and developments in two public inquiries into deaths in police custody. Reviews into police custody in Scotland The Scottish Government consulted on new Strategic Police Priorities, which were published in December 2019. They reflect key NPM principles including equality and human rights to support positive criminal justice outcomes, being ethical, open and transparent and working collaboratively with partners to improve outcomes for individuals and the vulnerable.99 In October 2019, a three-month consultation commenced on the Letter of Rights provided to suspects and accused persons held in police custody. Although the analysis of consultation responses has not yet been published, the government has indicated that it plans to revise the Letter.100 The Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in relation to Policing submitted its preliminary report to the Scottish Parliament in June 2019. The review, by Dame Elish Angiolini QC, who previously conducted a review looking at similar systems in England and Wales, made 30 immediate recommendations including to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC), Police Scotland, Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. She reported evidence that ‘the current arrangements for handling complaints about the police are overly complex, lack clarity and can be open to a range of different interpretations’. She recommended that PIRC, which investigates complaints and deaths in custody, should adopt a similar policy to its equivalent in England and Wales by recruiting non‑police officers to the most senior posts. Following serious incidents, she recommended that officers of Police Scotland give every assistance, and that the current assumption of cooperation between key agencies should be strengthened and put into primary legislation. The final report was published on 11 November 2020.101 Reviews into police custody in Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland is implementing a Custody Pathfinder Programme for custody health care. The programme will shift health care in police custody towards a principally nurseled service, with specially trained custody nurse practitioners working as part of the custody team, and mental health nurses also being recruited. The aim is to improve the quality of the health care service and outcomes for patients in custody and reduce emergency department visits. Prior to this, custody health care had been physicianled and was delivered by forensic medical officers only, who will remain in place on Scottish Government, December 2019, Review of Strategic Police Priorities: Consultation, https://consult.gov.scot/safercommunities/review-of-strategic-police-priorities/ [accessed 31/08/2020] 100 Scottish Government, October 2019, Letter of rights: consultation, https://www.gov.scot/publications/consultation-letterrights-scotland/ [accessed 31/08/2020] 101 Dame Elish Angiolini QC, June 2019, Independent review of complaints handling, investigations and misconduct issues in relation to policing: preliminary report, https://www.gov.scot/publications/preliminary-report-independent-reviewcomplaints-handling-investigations-misconduct-issues-relation-policing/pages/19/ [accessed 31/08/2020]; Dame Elish Angiolini QC, November 2020, Independent Review of Complaints Handling, Investigations and Misconduct Issues in Relation to Policing: Final report, https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/ independent-report/2020/11/independent-review-complaints-handling-investigations-misconduct-issues-relationpolicing/documents/independent-review-complaints-handling-investigations-misconduct-issues-relation-policingfinal-report/independent-review-complaints-handling-investigations-misconduct-issues-relation-policing-final-report/ govscot%3Adocument/independent-review-complaints-handling-investigations-misconduct-issues-relation-policing-finalreport.pdf?forceDownload=true [accessed 01/12/2020] 99 35