1 week Ago By [email protected] (Andrew Spence)
Humberside's Police and Crime Commissioner has hit back at local MPs' criticism, branding their remarks as "politically motivated" and demonstrating a "general lack of understanding". Four local MPs wrote a letter to the Chair of the Humberside Police and Crime Panel expressing deep concerns relating to "inappropriate practices within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner." The four MPs, Emma Hardy (Hull West and Haltemprice), Karl Turner (Hull East), Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes), and Sir Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe), sent their letter following the publishing of Humberside Police's performance report from His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
The report was predominantly positive with the force being graded as either Outstanding or Good for all but one category. Investigating Crime was the only category which "requires improvement" according to the report. Despite the largely positive findings, the MPs remain concerned, "t he recent report does show good practise but also the real potential for future decline in performance because of the current issues faced," they wrote.
In their letter, the MPs expressed concern over the recruitment of a new Chief Constable. They wrote: " As you will be aware, the Chief Constable Paul Anderson announced his intention to retire on 25 June, the same day as the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) announced it had opened an investigation into allegations of misconduct against him. "A recruitment process to appoint a new Chief Constable has failed to attract a suitable candidate.
This is a matter of concern, as the current arrangement does not give us confidence that these serious issues will be addressed." In his response, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Jonathan Evison, accused the four MPs, who all belong to the Labour Party , of playing party politics. He said: "Reflecting on the letter from local Labour MPs to the Police and Crime Panel, this is clearly politically motivated.
Whilst voted in as a Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner, I swore an oath of impartiality to ensure that whilst in the role I would not be drawn into party politics, an oath I take seriously." He added: "I wrote only yesterday to all MPs to provide them with an update on the outstanding HMICFRS PEEL report and ongoing excellent performance of the force. This puts Humberside as the top performing police force in the country for a second time running, this is down to the hard work of staff, officers and volunteers.
" In their letter, the MPs suggested that the interview process for the new Chief Constable should be "done independently of the PCC." Mr Evison has claimed that this suggestion "demonstrates a general lack of understanding of the appointment process for a Chief Constable." Keep up to date with all the latest breaking news and top stories from Grimsby with our free newsletter.
