Following notification from the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner of his intention to appoint to the role of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, for the Hampshire Police and Crime Panel to hold a closed session to agree its recommendations.
Minutes:
The Panel held exempt discussions which examined the evidence provided in the Confirmation Hearing session. The final reports of the Panel are appended to these minutes.
The Panel agreed:
· That they were unanimous in their agreement that the Commissioner required a Deputy.
· That the candidate had a clear understanding of the Commissioner’s vision of the Deputy role.
· That the candidate provided thoughtful but concise responses to questions.
· That the strength of the candidate’s experience and skillset in the field of partnership working was aptly demonstrated, which would put her in good stead when engaging with the public and partners.
· That the candidate expressed her wish to work closely with the Panel and engage in its working group activities, which Members welcomed.
· That the candidate was keen to learn and absorb the information required to get on with the job, and to listen to the public on behalf of the Commissioner.
The Panel did however note some reservations about the candidate proposed, for which it has sought reassurance from the Commissioner:
· The candidate was honest about her ambitions to return to parliament, describing it as her “dream job”. The Panel were concerned that this may give stakeholders the impression that the candidate was not fully committed to the role, or building relationships with individuals and groups, which should be an area that the Commissioner seeks to reassure both the police and the public on.
· That the role of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner set out by the Commissioner would require the candidate to become a subject expert on a range of topics, and to build good working relationships with partners. This would likely take a significant period of time. In light of the Panel’s concerns about the commitment of the candidate to the position, plans should be put in place to ensure that there is a continuation of this work, and that insight and outcomes are clearly recorded, should the position be vacated for any reason.
On the basis of the information provided by the Commissioner, and the discussions held in the Confirmation Hearing, the Panel agreed by majority the proposed recommendations in relation to the appointment of the preferred candidate to the role of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner
RESOLVED:
That the proposed candidate, Ms Flick Drummond, is recommended to be
appointed to the position of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner.
The Panel also made the following recommendations to the Commissioner relating to the proposed appointment, and the process leading up to the Confirmation Hearing:
RESOLVED:
That:
1. The Police and Crime Panel request that informal notification of the intention to appoint to any position under Schedule 1 or Schedule 8 of the Police and Crime Act 2011 is provided to the Chairman and scrutiny officer to the Panel before any briefings are provided to the press or media, in line with the Panel’s Confirmation Hearing Protocol.
2. The Chairman requests to meet with the Commissioner to review the process used for communicating the proposed appointment of the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner to the Panel, and report any lessons learned to a future meeting.
3. The Commissioner responds to the concerns raised in Paragraph 5.2 of this report, to include any actions he intends to take as a consequence.
4. The Commissioner clarifies the process to be followed should a general election be called. Further, that the Commissioner comments on whether his intention would be to appoint a new candidate should this occur before 2020.
5. Clarification is provided on whether the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner shall be appointed for one year, or until the end of the term of office of the Commissioner.