Agenda and minutes

Confirmation Hearing for the appointment of Chief Constable, Wiltshire Police and Crime Panel - Friday 11 January 2013 10.30 am

Venue: Wessex Room - The Corn Exchange, Market Place, Devizes, SN10 1HS. View directions

Contact: Kirsty Butcher Democratic Services Officer

Items
No.	Item
12.	Apologies for Absence Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillor Dalton and Hewitt. Councillors Doyle substituted for Councillor Hewitt. Councillor Petty substituted for Councillor Dalton.
13.	Declarations of interest To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee. Minutes: Councillors Ali, Britton, Caswill and Ford declared a interest as they were known to the proposed candidate being members of the Police Authority. Councillor Humphries declared an interest being the Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Public Health and Protection.
14.	Chairman's Announcements Minutes: There were no Chairman’s announcements.
15.	Public Participation The Panel welcomes contributions from members of the public. Statements Statements may only be made on business relating to this special meeting. If you wish to make a statement at this meeting on the proposed appointment of the Chief Constable, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes. You will need to provide hard copies of your statement. Please contact the officer named on the first page of the agenda for any further clarification. Minutes: There were no questions or statements from members of the public.
16.	Selection Process Minutes: Angus Macpherson, Police and Crime Commissioner introduced the Independent Person’s report which detailed the selection process. The panel raised its concern over the detail within the report, particularly the lack of information around the applicant’s relationship to the core competencies and how these were confirmed. The Commissioner explained that whilst the content of the report fulfilled the obligations of the independent member there were lessons to be learnt for the future including the suggestion of liaison between the Independent Person and the Panel prior to a hearing. The Commissioner explained that the decision of the Selection Panel had been unanimous and introduced Mr Geenty as his proposed candidate.
16a	Background Information for Panel members A copy of the applicant information booklet provided by the Office of the Police Commissioner is attached. Supporting documents: Item no. 5a - Chief Constable application information booklet , item 16a PDF 1 MB Restricted enclosure 5 View the reasons why document 16a/2 is restricted
17.	Selection process To receive a report from the selection panel’s independent person describing the selection process. (Report to follow) Supporting documents: Item no. 5b - Report of the Independent Person , item 17. PDF 66 KB
18.	Review the proposed appointment To ask the preferred candidate questions in relation to their professional competence and personal independence. Minutes: Mr Geenty introduced himself to the Panel and expressed his delight in being the proposed candidate. In response to questions he detailed his ambition as delivering an outstanding service of quality to the public, and recognised the need to create an organisation that could deliver flexibly and dynamically. Mr Geenty felt he understood where the boundaries lay between his role and the Commissioner‘s, explaining his strategy would be to work in a symbiotic relationship. He didn’t see the operation independence changing with the new arrangements and was confident in his relationship with the Commissioner to address issues face to face and in a timely manner. The Panel highlighted its displeasure to the Commissioner over his press release ignoring the statutory role of the Panel in approving the proposed appointment. The Commissioner acknowledged this, stating there was no discourtesy meant.
19.	Exclusion of the Press and Public To consider passing the following resolution: To agree that in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in Item Number 8 because it is 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 I of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public. Minutes: Resolved The Panel agreed that in accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public from the meeting for the business specified in Item Number 8 because 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 I of Schedule 12A to the Act and the public interest in withholding the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information to the public.
20.	Decision The Panel will be asked to make a decision on the proposed appointment. Minutes: During the evaluation process the Panel considered whether the candidate had the professional competence to and the personal independence to exercise the role as set out in the role profile. The Panel were unanimous in reaching their decision. Resolved To recommend to the Police and Crime Commissioner that his proposed candidate, Mr Geenty be appointed to the role of Chief Constable.