It has statutory responsibility for the inspection of the effectiveness and efficiency of the police service in Scotland.

HMICS is part of a tripartite distribution of powers for accountability for the Scottish police service.

The Scottish Police Authority is responsible for setting the budget and ensuring that best value is attained for the public purse.

The head of the service is HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, held by Craig Naylor since March 2022.

[1] The HMICS is based at St Andrew's House in Edinburgh and had £1.2m of funding allocated by the Scottish Government in 2013–14.