Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Aled Luckman (Worcestershire County Council), Nyear Nazir (Redditch Borough Council), Richard Overton (Shropshire Council) Vivienne Parry (Shropshire Council) and Tom Wells (Malvern District Council).

No declarations of interest were made.

Councillor Stephen Reynolds for Richard Overton (Telford and Wrekin Council).

It was noted that following the local elections in May, Cllr Steve Mackay had stood down as Chairman of the Panel. 

Nominations for Chairman were received for Cllrs Aled Luckman and Barry Durkin. On being put to the vote, Cllr Aled Luckman was duly elected as Chairman of the Panel for 3 years until July 2024.

There was also a vacancy for Vice-Chairman. Nominations for Vice-Chairman were received for Cllrs Sebastian Bowen and Barry Durkin, on being put to the vote, Cllr Durkin was duly elected as Vice-Chairman for 3 years until July 2024.

Given that apologies had been received from Cllr Luckman, Cllr Durkin took the Chair.

The following elected members were unanimously co-opted on to the Panel: Cllrs Jeff Anderson, Vivienne Parry, Roger Evans (Shropshire), Cllr Richard Overton (Telford and Wrekin) and Cllr Barry Durkin (Herefordshire). 

Additionally, one of the two Independent Lay Members on the Panel, Aled Luckman had become an elected member of Worcestershire County Council and therefore couldn’t hold the position of lay independent co-opted member.

The Agreement for Panel Arrangements required the Panel to ensure that there were two serving Lay Members and accordingly, the Panel agreed the process for recruitment as detailed in the agenda report that the recruitment and selection of a new Lay Member would be carried out by a small Appointments Panel of 3 panel members, supported by the support officers to the Panel. 

Members were asked to email the Democratic Governance and Scrutiny Manager if they were interested in being a Member of the Appointments Panel.

Cllrs Durkin, Bowen and Adams expressed an interest in being a Member of the Appointment Panel at the meeting.  The membership would be confirmed in due course.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and congratulated John Campion on his appointment as the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).

Thanks were noted for the previous Panel Chairman, Councillor Steve Mackay for his long and good service to the Panel.  It was agreed that a letter of thanks would be sent to Cllr Mackay on behalf of the Panel.

The PCC was invited to address the Panel and in doing so explained that he would continue to focus on victims and survivors, building a more secure West Mercia, continuing to reform the service and providing reassurance to the communities he served.

Members of the public wishing to take part (asking a question or making a statement) should notify the by Assistant Director for Legal and Governance in writing or by email indicating both the nature and content of their proposed participation no later than 9.00am on the working day before the meeting (in this case 12 July 2021).  Enquiries can be made through the telephone number/email address listed below.

Please note that due to Covid requirements, places at the meeting are limited. All members of the public who wish to attend the

meeting should register by e-mail with the officer below and places

will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Attendees at the meeting will be required to sign that they have either:

• Had Covid-19 in the last 6 months, or
• Received two Covid-19 vaccinations, or
• Had a negative lateral flow test result in the 48 hours prior to the meeting.

None.

To confirm the Minutes of the Panel meeting held on 4 February 2021.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 4 February 2021 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

It was noted that the current Chief Constable, Anthony Bangham had notified the PCC of his decision to retire from his current position in March 2021 and a recruitment exercise had been undertaken in response. On 30 June, the Panel was advised that following a thorough, open and competitive two day process involving four candidates, current Essex Deputy Chief Constable Pippa Mills had been chosen as the preferred candidate to be the next West Mercia Chief Constable.

Schedule 8 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act stated that within three weeks of receipt of notification of the proposed appointment by the PCC of a Chief Constable, the Panel:

a)         must undertake a review of the proposed appointment in accordance with the requirements set out in Schedule 8 of the Act

b)         must hold a public confirmation meeting

c)         must make a report to and make recommendations to the PCC in relation to the appointment of a Chief Constable by the PCC.

d)         may exercise its  right of veto in respect of the appointment in accordance with the Act and Regulations made under it.

The Act also stated that the PCC must notify the Panel of the preferred candidate for appointment as Chief Constable and provide it with the following information:

·         The name of the person whom the PCC is proposing to appoint;

·         The criteria used to assess the suitability of the candidate and how the candidate satisfied these criteria and

·         The terms and conditions under which the candidate was to be appointed.

The Agenda report provided the Panel with the Independent Report on the recruitment, application and interview process (Appendix A), the job profile and specification which set out the criteria used for assessment proposed terms and conditions (Appendix B).

The Chairman invited John Campion, PCC to address the Panel.

The PCC drew the Panels attention to the report which detailed the recruitment process and pointed out that pages 21 and 22 of the agenda papers should be disregarded. He reiterated that the role of the Panel was to consider the PCC’s proposed appointment of a Chief Constable and that the process had been overseen by an Independent Person.

Four applicants were shortlisted and all were assessed and following the process, the PCC offered DCC Pippa Mills (currently serving with Essex) the position of preferred candidate for the post of Chief Constable of West Mercia Police.

Pippa had been appointed as DCC of Essex Police in March 2019 and had overseen the growth of the force through the national Police Uplift Programme. Prior to this Pippa was the Essex Police Assistant Chief Constable overseeing Criminal Justice, Operational Policing and Contact Management. She transferred to Essex in May 2017 having begun her career in the Metropolitan Police Service which she joined in 1996.

The PCC commended Pippa Mills as the preferred candidate to the Panel and advised if successful she would hopefully be able to take up the role at the end September/early October.

The Chairman invited DCC Pippa Mills  ...  view the full minutes text for item 382.

The Panel was asked to consider the PCC’s proposed appointment of a Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (DPCC). In doing so, the Panel needed to satisfy itself that the preferred candidate selected by the PCC had the competence to undertake the role.

The Panel was provided with a report detailing the overview of the process that was undertaken to select the preferred candidate, and of the reasons for Tracey Onslow’s nomination as the proposed DPCC.

By virtue of s18 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (the Act) the PCC for West Mercia may appoint a person to be the Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Mercia area. Under the Act the PCC must notify the PCP of the preferred candidate for appointment as DPCC. Schedule 1 of the Act states that the PCC must provide the following information:

a)         The name of the person whom the PCC is proposing to appoint;

b)         The criteria used to assess the suitability of the candidate and how the candidate satisfies these criteria; and

c)         The terms and conditions under which the candidate is to be appointed.

The Panel was provided with the:

i)          Relevant background and context

ii)         application and interview process;

iii)         Job profile and person specification, which set out the criteria used for assessment;

iv)        interview questions used in those assessments; and

v)         Proposed terms and conditions

The Chairman invited the PCC to address the Panel.

The PCC referred the Panel to the statutory information provided in the Agenda and reminded the Panel that Tracey Onslow had supported him as Deputy PCC for just under 5 years, sharing direct work and also had a portfolio of responsibility on his behalf.

The PCC was confident that Tracey’s work had contributed to maximising the benefit to the community for services which were commissioned and in holding the force to account to account.

The PCC reminded the Panel that in 2016 a full recruitment process was undertaken in respect of the Deputy PCC role, in which the Panel was engaged throughout. The PCC confirmed to the Panel that Tracey as his Deputy had followed best practice and that he was confident that she still met the requirements. He reassured that Panel that he had followed the good practice from across England and Wales via both the Association of Police and Crime Chief Executives and the Association of PCCs, the PCC undertook a process to assess whether Tracey remained suitable for the role and was confident that this was the case. It was also important to have the continuity especially in light of the pandemic.

The Chairman invited Tracey Onslow to address the Panel.

Tracey explained that 5 years ago when she first became DPCC, she had welcomed the opportunity and it was an honour, Tracey had always lived in West Mercia and had enjoyed getting out and about in the West Mercia area.  She was given the opportunity to get involved in commissioning of services for Victims and had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 383.

Deferred to the next meeting.

Deferred to the next meeting.

Deferred to the next meeting.