Agenda item

The Chairman explained to the Panel that the purpose of this item was to enable members of the Police and Crime Panel (PCP) to consider the Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC) proposed appointment of a Chief Constable. The Chairman referred Panel Members to the agenda papers which provided an overview of the appointment process that was undertaken to select the preferred candidate, and of the reasons for his nomination as the proposed Chief Constable.

The Chairman explained to the Panel that he intended to invite the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to speak and present his preferred candidate for Chief Constable to the Panel, allowing the Panel to put questions to the PCC. Then he intended to invite the Vice Chairman of the Panel, Councillor Tony Miller, to speak about his role as the PCPs representative in the recruitment process. The Chairman would then invite the preferred candidate, Mr Anthony Bangham, to speak before allowing the Panel to put questions to him.

The Chairman explained that the Panel would likely go into closed session after questioning in order to discuss the confirmation hearing before reporting any decision taken back to open session of the Panel.

The Chairman invited John Campion, Police and Crime Commissioner, to address the Panel.

The PCC thanked the Panel for convening a special meeting in August. The PCC drew the Panels attention to the report which detailed the recruitment process, he highlighted how the recruitment process was advertised widely including sending advert to all eligible Deputy Chief Constables in the UK and how he wanted to use as wide a selection of people and partners as possible to help him make the right selection.

The PCC drew attention to the 'independent' report in the agenda pack which illustrated that a valid recruitment process had taken place; he then commended Anthony Bangham as his preferred candidate for Chief Constable of West Mercia Police to the Panel. The PCC drew to the Panel the key reasons why he was confident in this proposal, which was his long and varied service and his values and ethics which came across strongly in the recruitment process.

The PCC explained his confidence in the preferred candidate in improving the service provided by West Mercia Police and in the candidate's partnership approach. The PCC explained that he felt the preferred candidate understood the need to work in partnership to help fix some of the problems in our society.

The Chairman invited questions from the Panel to the PCC, during which the following points were discussed:

·         Consistency of information at Confirmation Hearings was required as some Panel Members felt that the level of information that had been provided was a minimal level. The PCC was happy for the Panel to agree what level of information it would like in future and he would happily comply with that level requested.

·         There were no BME applicants for the post.

The Chairman invited Councillor Tony Miller, Vice Chairman of the Panel, to explain his role in the recruitment process and to take questions from Panel members.

Councillor Miller explained that he had been appointed by the Chairman as the PCP representative on the Appointments Panel for the Chief Constable recruitment, and that the other Appointment Panel members were:

·         John Campion, Police and Crime Commissioner, West Mercia Police

·         Martin Jelley, Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police

·         Clare Marchant, Chief Executive of Worcestershire County Council

·         Councillor Hilda Rhodes, Cabinet Member, Telford and Wrekin Council

·         Val Ainsworth, Independent Member and Associate of the College of Policing

Councillor Miller explained the Appointment Panel process followed by details of the Shortlisting Panel. In discussions with the Panel and in response to questioning the following points were discussed:

·         The report outlines the process in full.

·         The Young Peoples Panel and Stakeholders Panel took place in the morning of 19^th July, the Appointment Panel then received feedback from the morning sessions on the candidates before they interviewed the candidates.

·         Councillor Miller felt that the preferred candidate put forward by the PCC was the 'best man for the job' and that he endorsed the PCCs preferred candidate.

·         The Appointments Panel had scored the preferred candidate higher than the other candidates.

·         The participation of a PCP member in the recruitment process highlighted the transparency of the recruitment process and was welcomed by Panel Members.

·         The Independent Member report from the College of Policing illustrated the transparency and quality of the recruitment process.

The Chairman invited Anthony Bangham, the preferred candidate of the PCC for Chief Constable, to answer questions from the Panel. During questioning the following was discussed:

·         Vital Chief Constable was accessible to staff and drove change and performance with staff

·         It was important to make local communities feel involved in policing and to improve confidence in Policing

·         The 25 years of service of the candidate in the Police were detailed and discussed

·         The Candidate had a specialism in Firearms and Road Policing.

·         The Candidate had spent the majority of his career and lived within West Mercia. He had also spent time in Avon and Somerset

·         Working with partners was of vital importance

·         Aim is to build a strong, confident and passionate West Mercia Police Service that recognises the need to put the public and the vulnerable first.

·         Important to put victims first.

·         The Candidate would work closely with the PCC on working together with other organisations on the transformation journey

·         Police can benefit from working with the Alliance with Warwickshire to learn from the Commercial world on the transformation journey.

·         Strengthening the Police within the Communities of West Mercia shouldn't be changed but enhanced

·         Important to plan for 2020 and beyond, need to provide dates for desired achievements so staff can focus on these

·         Investing in ICT and making Officers more mobile and agile is vital

·         Active Citizenship role to support and help the Police needs to be bought-in to by the Public

·         Partnerships need to have a clearly define shared set of objectives, important to make clear from the beginning what would trigger a partnership being dissolved

·         Collaboration with Warwickshire illustrates experience of working in technical partnership for the benefit of the public

·         Partnerships should be recalibrated if benefit to public of West Mercia is not being delivered

·         The Candidate has been Senior Responsible Officer for Alliance Change Programme for past 2 years, overseeing move from transitional phase to transformational phase in order to strengthen  alliance, make savings and exploit opportunities provided by Commercial sector and Partners

·         Has had responsibility for Inspection Regimes such as PEEL Inspections

·         Important that Police are not a defensive organisation and are open, willing and able to take on board feedback that it receives

·         The Candidate would seek a focus on making the Police Service 'great' at protecting the most vulnerable people

·         The Candidate would like to get feedback from young people in West Mercia on the Police Service and how to connect with young people regularly

·         Strategic planning for emerging threats was a national challenge.

·         The Health and wellbeing of the workforce was an important consideration during transformation.

·         The Policing Protocol was discussed and what could be done to make sure all Officers were working together for the benefit of the Public.

·         Challenge from the Chief Constable to the PCC was accepted as a key part of the Chief Constable role

·         The candidate explained how he welcomed scrutiny and challenge from the Police and Crime Panel.

The Panel agreed to exclude the press and public from the meeting during the following Panel considerations of the proposed appointment as it was likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during that item there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

RESOLVED:  That in accordance with Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting in relation to the business specified as it was likely that if members of the public were present, there would be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act, and the public interest in withholding the information outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.

The Panel agreed that while there may have been a public interest in disclosing this information, namely openness in the deliberations of the Panel in determining its recommendation regarding the proposed appointment, it was felt that, on balance, this was outweighed by other factors in favour of maintaining the exemption, namely enabling a full discussion regarding the merits of the proposed appointment.

RESOLVED: THAT Anthony Bangham is confirmed as the Chief Constable of West Mercia Police Service without qualification.

The Panel agreed that the new Chief Constable continue to have the same open dialogue and relationship with the Police and Crime Panel as the former Chief Constable and asked the Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner to take note of this.