MEMBERS of Scotland’s under-fire police watchdog have been accused of failing to challenge the “poor performance” of their leadership.

MSPs said they had lost confidence in the ability of the Scottish Police Authority’s (SPA) board members to do their job – and have asked its new chair to “reflect” on this when she carries out performance appraisals.

It comes amid claims Police Scotland prevented an outside force from investigating an illegal spying operation linked to the unsolved murder of prostitute Emma Caldwell.

And earlier this month it emerged half of the SPA’s senior management team is on secondment from the SNP Government, sparking concerns over political control.

Holyrood’s Public Audit Committee hit out at the "continual under-performance" of SPA board members, and insisted previous unacceptable practices must not be “quietly forgotten”.

Committee convener Jenny Marra has now written to Susan Deacon, who replaced Andrew Flanagan as chair of the SPA in December, and asked her to answer several key questions.

These include whether the SPA will try to reclaim any of the £67,000 relocation expenses paid to Deputy Chief Constable Rose Fitzpatrick, which were not properly disclosed in its annual accounts.

Ms Marra said: “Poor performance must be addressed. Only then will we begin to have confidence that all SPA board members are carrying out their roles as effectively as they should be."

She told the new SPA chair that MSPs were “obliged to highlight our strongly-held concerns” about those board members who were in post throughout the recent upheavals and did not challenge their leadership.

She added: "Quite simply, we do not have confidence in their ability to perform their role adequately and ask you to reflect on our concerns when you carry out performance appraisals of board members."

In another letter to SPA vice chair Nicola Marchant, Ms Marra insisted the "board's functioning remains substandard".

MSPs are also demanding to know whether the SPA ever considered dismissing its former chief executive John Foley, who walked away with a £100,000 exit package despite being accused of “shocking” financial mismanagement.

Mr Flanagan stepped down as the chair of the SPA last year amid widespread controversy over governance and transparency, with HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) highlighting "dysfunction" at the top of the organisation.

The Auditor General previously criticised "unacceptable" examples of poor governance and use of public money.

Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr said the SPA “needs to pull its finger out”.

He added: “Its reputation has taken a beating in recent months, and the appearances referred to here have done nothing to improve that.

“Public confidence in the management of policing is poor, and the SPA doesn’t seem to be serious about addressing that. If it doesn’t act quickly, people will just become even more fed up with it.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat Justice spokesman Liam McArthur said the SPA had failed to perform to the standard the public would expect since its creation in 2013.

He added: “Inevitably, this has impacted upon public confidence in the SPA.

"While these issues need to be addressed, they are symptomatic of wider problems that are hardwired into Scotland’s policing structures since the SNP’s botched centralisation.

“That is why the Justice Secretary must take responsibility and agree to establish an independent expert commission to come forward with proposals to improve accountability, transparency and localism."

A spokesman for the SPA said: "The SPA can confirm that correspondence from the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee has been received. A response will be sent to the committee in due course."

The Herald:

ANALYSIS: Authority has staggered along from one crisis to the next for four years

IT was set up in 2013 to hold Scotland’s newly established single police force to account.

But in the intervening years, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has come under almost as much scrutiny as Police Scotland itself.

Lurching from one crisis to another, it has been repeatedly criticised by politicians for its poor use of public money, lack of transparency and bad governance.

The sorry saga first came to a head in 2015, when five SPA board members raised concerns about its thenchairman, Vic Emery. Mr Emery was accused of making inappropriate comments about senior figures in policing and government – including Justice Secretary Michael Matheson.

He maintained the claims were unsubstantiated, but stood down anyway.

Next to take up the poisoned chalice was Andrew Flanagan, who was appointed chairman of the SPA board in September 2015. It wasn’t long until he was embroiled in a row of his own, this time over secrecy.

He moved the SPA to private committee meetings, while board papers were only made publicly available hours before a meeting.

The lack of transparency caused one board member, Moi Ali, to resign – and Mr Flanagan later came under heavy fire from MSPs, who called for him to go.

He stepped down in June 2017, insisting the sustained criticism had impacted on him and his family.

SPA chief executive John Foley secured a £100,000 exit package when he retired last year, despite taking flak for “poor financial judgment”.

Audit Scotland found relocation expenses totalling £67,000 had been given to deputy chief constable Rose Fitzpatrick, but were not properly disclosed in the SPA’s annual accounts.

Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said financial mismanagement under Mr Foley was “the most shocking” she had seen.

New chairwoman Susan Deacon will want to consign such controversies to history.

But judging by the letters sent by MSPs this week, it’s not over quite yet.