WIREDGOV

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) today announced two new appointments to its Executive Management Board.

Lesley Longstone CB is the new Chief Executive, taking over from Amanda Kelly who has been acting Chief Executive since April 2013. Nick Hawkins takes up the newly created post of Chief Operating Officer and will oversee the IPCC’s investigations, appeals, assessment and quality assurance work.

IPCC Chair Anne Owers said:

“Lesley Longstone and Nick Hawkins bring considerable skills and experience to the IPCC. This will be invaluable as we move forward with our challenging and exciting programme of change and expansion, and I look forward very much to working with them.

“I would also like to thank Amanda Kelly for the very important contribution she has made to our work over the last five years. Most recently, she was instrumental in setting up our Hillsborough investigation – the largest we have ever done – and has played a major role in planning and starting off the process of change that we are now implementing."

Lesley Longstone has many years’ senior level experience in the public sector both in the UK and overseas, and has most recently carried out investigative work for the Ministry of Defence and conducted a review of the Northern Ireland Office.

Lesley Longstone said:

“This is an exciting time to join the IPCC, with an expansion in the number of independent investigations providing great opportunities for the organisation and for building confidence in the police complaints system. I look forward to playing my part in taking forward the changes that will create the new IPCC.”

Nick Hawkins, a qualified barrister who served in the Royal Navy for 22 years, joins the IPCC from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) where he has held a number of senior positions since 1999.

Nick Hawkins said:

“The expectations on the IPCC are quite rightly high with significantly more independent investigations in the pipeline and a heightened determination to embed quality and customer service into everything we do. I will be working with a team who are all committed to providing the best possible service to those we deal with, and to developing the way we work as we expand over the coming months.”

Notes to editors

For media enquires please contact the IPCC press office on: 0207 166 3134 or 3239

Biographies:

Lesley Longstone

Lesley has many years’ experience at very senior levels in the public sector, both in the UK and overseas. She has been a member of the Department for Education Board, initially as Director General with responsibility for young people, working with the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, police and Youth Justice Board to deliver positive outcomes for young people. She then moved on to lead the change programme that among other things, saw the successful delivery of the Academies programme. Lesley's career before then included several years working for the Employment Service, an arms-length body of the Department for Employment.

She spent time working in New Zealand as the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Education. After returning to the UK, she carried out investigative work for the Ministry of Defence and has most recently been conducting a review of the Northern Ireland Office.

Lesley joined the IPCC in September 2014.

Nick Hawkins

Nick qualified as a barrister while serving in the Royal Navy and has spent the last 15 years in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as a Chief Crown Prosecutor.

Nick successively served as Chief Crown Prosecutor of Wiltshire, Hampshire, Wessex and finally CPS Direct (the 24/7 service providing charging decisions to the police service). He prosecuted everything from murder to minor disorder, and appeared regularly as an advocate in the Crown Court. During his time in the CPS he had national responsibility for sports matters and provided the prosecution input into three football world cups, two international cricket tournaments and the 2012 Olympics.

Before joining the CPS Nick served 22 years in the Royal Navy, which included seagoing appointments in the Far East, Falklands, Caribbean and the Gulf, before qualifying as a barrister. His final appointment was to set up the independent Naval Prosecuting Authority and he retired in the rank of Commander in 1999.

Nick is also a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Portsmouth.

He joined the IPCC in September 2014