Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012

The Police and Fire Reform Act 2012 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament.

Provisions

This legislation merged the eight separate police forces and fire and rescue services in Scotland, plus several central agencies, into single agencies covering the whole of Scotland. These new agencies, Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, formally came into being on 1 April 2013.
By establishing the Scottish Police Authority and the Police Service of Scotland, it replaced the arrangements previously set out in the Police (Scotland) Act 1967.
The legislation also made provision for the Auditor General for Scotland to become responsible for auditing the Scottish Police Authority, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Further developments

The UK Government's decided to make Police Scotland ineligible for and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service ineligible for VAT refunds on the basis that they were not local organisations, they were national organisations.
In 2018, a Scottish Parliament committee reviewed the effect of the act.