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Stuart Houston has been promoted to Deputy Chief Constable on a temporary basis with two new Assistant Chief Constables also appointed to join the leadership team under Chief Constable Jo Farrell.
Stuart Houston is currently Assistant Chief Constable for Organised Crime, Counter Terrorism, and Intelligence, he has been in the force since 1996. The position of temporary DCC was only available to internal candidates and was advertised earlier this month on a salary of £230k.
This comes after the suspension of Deputy Chief Constable Jane Connors in December 2025. The Scottish Police Authority said at the time: “The Authority’s complaints and conduct committee has taken the decision to suspend a senior police officer following receipt of conduct allegations which have been referred to the Police Investigations and Reviews Commissioner for consideration.” The SPA provided no further updates on the matter.
The SPA confirmed two Assistant Chief Constable posts with the promotion of Chief Superintendent Phil Davison who is currently local policing transformation lead for Police Scotland. He is an experienced firearms, public order and events commander and joined the force in 1999.
The second ACC post is filled by Lynn Ratcliff, who had been filling the role on a temporary basis. She has been in Police Scotland since 1994 and is an experienced Event Policing Lead and Counter Terrorism Security Coordinator.
Assistant Chief Constable Emma Bond was announced this week as the preferred candidate for Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police, and Assistant Chief Constable Steve Johnson has retired.
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