Meeting documents

Cllrs Ian White and Chris McCarthy declared a personal interest as Members of South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils.

Following notification from the Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner of his intention to appoint the preferred candidate, Mr Matthew Barber, to the role of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, for the Thames Valley Police and Crime Panel to hold a Confirmation Hearing, in accordance with Schedule 1 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.

The Panel received detailed paperwork at the meeting held on 16 December 2016 concerning the role of the DPCC.

The Panel explored the candidate’s ability to undertake the role through an appraisal of the supporting documents provided by the Commissioner, and thorough questioning.

The PCC made the following statement in support of his appointment in that the position of Deputy PCC is under his control. The legislation is very clear in this regard and the final decision about appointing a deputy is that of the commissioner. The Panel noted that the PCC had not had a Deputy since his election and recognised that he had a large area to cover across the Thames Valley. The PCC emphasised the importance of choosing somebody with the same values and respects the tradition of non-politicised British policing as well as the primary role of the police service and the Commissioner to act on behalf of the public to cut crime and improve crime detection rates. 

The Panel asked the following questions and received the following responses:-

The candidate was asked to demonstrate his qualities which he could offer to the role. Matthew Barber had been Leader of the Vale of the White Horse since 2007 elections and had been a councillor since 2003 with a wide range of experience across the Thames Valley. He had experience in devolution issues, licensing, commissioning services and had responsibility for the finance portfolio. As a Leader he had also worked closely with the Local Police Area Commander and the Chief Constable on policing issues.

The PCC was asked whether he would appoint any additional support such as associate PCC’s to help cover the area of the Thames Valley. The PCC commented that once the Deputy appointment had been ratified he would start to look into this in more detail in the New Year.

The candidate was asked about his time commitment to the role of the Deputy PCC bearing in mind that he would still continue as Leader of the Vale of the White Horse. Matthew Barber reported that previously he had worked four days a week as an election agent and undertook his role as Leader on the remaining day plus the weekend and annual leave. With the role of Deputy PCC, as the terms and conditions state 22.2 hours per week, this was less of a time commitment than being an election agent.

The candidate was asked whether there were any gaps in skills between the PCC and himself. Matthew Barber reported that their skills were complementary and that he was competent to cover the responsibilities and functions listed in Appendix 1 of the report. He would need to discuss with the PCC which specific areas of responsibility he would have and would bring his local authority experience into his new role. He commented that this would complement the PCC’s experience in local policing, finance and counter terrorism.

The candidate was asked whether he would give each geographical area across the Thames Valley equal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.