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Appendix 1 – Duty to publish information
129. Sections 31 and 32 of the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 impose duties on public bodies to publish information on expenditure and certain other matters.
Section 31
130. Sections 31(1) and (2) require IPS to publish expenditure incurred in relation to:
Public relations - 4,212.86
Overseas travel - 0.00
Hospitality and entertainment - 0.00
External consultancy - 0.00
131. The above amounts form part of, and are not additional to, those set out at paragraph 124. Public relations relates to the production of our inspection reports and other published documents, together with the maintenance of our website.
132. Section 31(3) requires IPS to publish details of any payment made in excess of £25,000. No such payments were made in 2025-26.
133. Section 31(4) requires IPS to publish the number of individuals who received remuneration in excess of £150,000. No member of staff earned in excess of £150,000 during 2025-26.
Section 32
134. Section 32 requires public bodies to publish a statement of the steps they have taken during the financial year to (a) promote and increase sustainable growth through the exercise of its functions; and (b) improve efficiency, effectiveness and economy in the exercise of its functions.
135. The function of IPS is to inspect the operation of COPFS. We consider that section 32 applies in respect of (i) how efficiently and effectively IPS itself delivers its function; and (ii) how we support COPFS in the delivery of its functions.
136. In delivering its function, IPS continues to seek opportunities to achieve savings and ensure value for money. In this regard, we also keep our fieldwork costs to a minimum by making effective use of digital meetings, including during our inspection work, which in turn reduces our carbon footprint.
137. Given our comparatively small budget the most significant contributions we can make to improving efficiency, effectiveness and economy are (i) the choices about what we inspect and how we make best use of IPS resource and technology, and (ii) how we encourage and support COPFS to improve the delivery of its service. The need to deliver high quality, evidence-based scrutiny and report publicly on our findings and to deliver a more effective and efficient prosecution and death investigation service are key themes in our scrutiny activity.