On Tuesday 29th January Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne announced that she intends to appoint Cllr Steve Waight as her deputy PCC “subject to confirmation by the Police and Crime Panel”. Like Cllr Bourne (Katy remains a Cllr in Mid Sussex District Council, despite her promise during the election to step down from all of her business and council interests if elected), Cllr Waight is a Conservative Politician from West Sussex. Cllr Waight had originally hoped to be the Conservative PCC candidate bringing with him his previous experience of the Sussex Police Authority. Steve served for several years as a member of and Chairman of the Police Authority. However he was unsusccesful in being long listed for the PCC role as he revealed last year.
It is no surprise that Katy has chosen a deputy PCC, the role of PCC is a large one and one for which her previous experience provided very little preparation. However her decision to appoint someone who failed to be included in the list of 12 candidates from across Sussex for the Conservative nomination and someone who is used to being in charge of the previous administration must bring her judgement into question.
Despite the comment in Katy’s statement there is no prospect of the PCP standing in the way of this appointment. In the first instance they have no power to oppose the decision and in any case the 20 person Panel is dominated by the Conservative Party, with the majority of these members also drawn from West Sussex. There are 12 Conservative Councillors in the PCP and 8 of these are from West Sussex.
Once Katy had made a decision that the job was too much for her alone, it would have been sensible for her to have considered the experience and skills which she brings to the role of PCC and look for complementary skills and experience in her deputy. The following list indicates some of the issues that she could have considered:
Recognising that Katy has made much of her small business background (even if her first draft budget shows no evidence of her electoral claims to bring business skills to the role), she might have considered a Deputy from a Policing background, or from Probation, Prison Service or the magistracy or perhaps the Voluntary and Community Sector. Instead in Cllr Waight she has chosen someone whose experience outside local government was as a Financial Adviser in a small business setting, just like Katy.
Katy lives near Haywards Heath in West Sussex and represents that area as a District Councillor. She might have considered a Deputy with knowledge and experience of East Sussex or Brighton & Hove, the other two upper tier local authority areas and co-terminus policing divisions. However Cllr Waight who is a Borough and County Councillor is based in Worthing in West Sussex, just like Katy.
As a Conservative Councillor Katy might have considered a Deputy PCC from one of the other political parties (there are at least three to choose from) or indeed someone who has no previous political experience. However once again Katy has picked a Deputy who just like her is from the same Political Party. This decision to select a fellow Conservative Cllr must bring into question Cllr Bournes claim after the election that she wanted to put party politics to one side as PCC.
Finally in an age of equality and to ensure that the tax payer gets the best return for its £45,000 salary which Katy has set, she might have considered some form of open process ensuring that the best person for the job was appointed. However she is making it clear that she does not see the need for openess and equality!
Once Steve Waight has been confirmed as the Deputy PCC on 7th February there will be 22 people involved in the Governance of Sussex Police, apart from those serving as Police Officers. All 22 of them are white, 20 of them are members of a major Political Party, 18 of them are male, 14 of them are members of the Conservative Party (including the PCC, deputy PCC, chair of the PCP and vice chair of the PCP), 10 of them are Councillors in West Sussex (including the PCC, deputy PCC and chair of the PCP). I previously wrote about the decision for the PCP to restrict its leadership to the dominant Conservative party which I believe is a huge mistake. To slightly misquote Alexis de Tocqueville “We get the Governance we deserve”. We may deserve this outcome, but I am certain it is not what we need if we are to see crime reduced in all communities across Sussex!
ianchisnall 
Brighton and Hove? East Sussex? You and I could have done a job-share Ian!
An interesting idea David – I wonder what the outcome would have been if your party had stuck to its policy of opposing the idea of a PCC but supporting Independent candidates for such posts in the event of an election. If they had chosen to support my campaign I might even have got elected and then we would have had a very different political mix.
Police & Crime Panel’s judgment embargoed until noon Monday.
Thanks for that update Andrew, as I understand it the panel cannot prevent the appointment and as I suggest they are unlikely to do so, however perhaps tomorrow at Noon will bring an unexpected response!
No veto. Commissioner can ignore Panel judgment if it is negative and doesn’t have to respond to any reasons the Panel give for not endorsing candidate for Deputy.
Furthermore, it is not necessary for Commissioners to advertise the post (although the one in Derbyshire did). Some shocking examples around the country – eg Northamptonshire – where Commissioners have appointed their election agent as their Deputy. Legislation allows Deputies to be paid up to 75% of Commissioners pay. An absolute scandal.
I bumped into Katy and Steve prior to last weeks PCP meeting in County Hall. I challenged her on the lack of geographical spread in their role (and the dominance of West Sussex in the PCP). The two simply pointed out that she had recently visited Hastings which shows a real lack of understanding of the need for diverse leadership which most businesses would understand, let alone a democratically accountable politician.