Scotland’s Biometrics Commissioner, Dr Brian Plastow, has repeated his call for Police Scotland to gain access to live facial recognition (LFR), governed by new primary legislation. He sets out the case in the foreword to his Annual Report and Accounts for 2025/26.
Plastow writes that Police Scotland “should have proportionate and equitable access to such technologies in future”. He points to serious and organised crime, counter terrorism, county lines drug dealing and what he calls the national emergency of male violence towards women and girls in Scotland. Police Scotland has not deployed LFR, although other UK policing bodies operating in Scotland already have access, and the report describes the legal framework across Scotland and the rest of the UK as a patchwork.
The position differs from England and Wales, where the King’s Speech 2026 confirmed a Police Reform Bill that will set legal limits on open-air LFR surveillance and the Home Office is giving extra funding to every police force. The commissioner says his existing Code of Practice could cover future use of the technology in Scotland, but any Police Scotland plan would need an impact assessment against it. Without primary legislation, he warns, deployments could leave his office overwhelmed with complaints. He has publicly urged ministers to bring forward legislation that mirrors the proposals for England and Wales.
The report also argues for a wider remit. The commissioner currently oversees Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority and the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner, but not non-police surveillance cameras or forensic science regulation, and Scotland has no Surveillance Camera Commissioner or Forensic Science Regulator. Plastow says officials have made no tangible progress since 2021 on a Section 104 Order under the Scotland Act 1998 that would bring other policing bodies under his oversight. Citing the Digital Evidence Sharing Capability, he says it seems illogical for independent oversight not to cover all the agencies that share biometric data, including prisons.
Scottish ministers must lay a report before Parliament by 30 November 2026 on whether the commissioner’s functions remain appropriate and whether bodies should be added or removed. Plastow sees an opportunity for a low-cost expansion of his remit, a view he has held since 2021. At a Scottish Police Authority board discussion in November 2025, the Chief Constable said she would welcome extending the commissioner’s functions to public safety cameras in Scotland to strengthen accountability.
