New chief executive appointed to the Scottish Police Authority

Police Scotland officers - Image credit: Ninian Reid via Flickr

The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has appointed a new chief executive a year after announcing the post would be made redundant.

Hugh Grover will join the SPA on 1 October 2018 for a period of induction, taking over the full responsibilities of chief executive and accountable officer on 5 November 2018.

He will act as the principal adviser to the board of the Scottish Police Authority as well as having responsibility for a policing budget of over £1bn.

The previous chief executive, John Foley, took early retirement at the end of August last year after the SPA decided to do away with the post of chief executive and have the director of forensic services report directly to the SPA board.

This followed heavy criticism from MSPs and the police watchdog HMICS about governance of the police authority.

Since then, the post of interim chief officer has been held by Kenneth Hogg, who has been on a 12-month secondment from the Scottish Government, while the SPA reviewed its leadership structure.

The new SPA chief executive has over 25-years-experience working across the public sector.

From 2012 to 2017 Grover led the development of a new investment company responsible for the management of the pension assets, worth £35bn, of London's 33 local authorities.

He also served as the organisation’s first chief executive from 2015.

Prior to that, he was a policy director overseeing finance, performance and procurement on behalf London’s councils.

Grover’s other experience includes working in central UK government departments and agencies.

He has an MBA and diploma from Imperial College London and holds fellowships with the Chartered Management Institute and the Royal Society of Arts.

Announcing the appointment, Susan Deacon, chair of the Scottish Police Authority, said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Hugh Grover as the new chief executive of the Scottish Police Authority.

“Hugh brings to the role a wealth of relevant experience spanning senior roles in local and central government as well as a strong track record of achievement in building collaborative relationships with policy makers, regulators and a wide range of other agencies.

“This important role is one of a series of leadership appointments the authority has made in recent months, including a new chief constable and a much strengthened Police Scotland senior leadership team.

“As chief executive of the authority, Hugh will build on the work done by Kenneth Hogg, as interim chief officer, to drive improvement and strengthen capacity and capability.”