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APCC Chair Emily Spurrell responds to the findings and recommendations of the Police Leadership Commission led by Lord Blunkett and Lord Herbert

Responding to the findings and recommendations of the Police Leadership Commission led by Lord Blunkett and Lord Herbert, APCC Chair Emily Spurrell said:

“Strong and effective leadership is fundamental to defining any organisation, so we welcome the Police Leadership Commission’s work towards ensuring the best leaders with the right skills and standards are selected and equipped to deliver the high quality police service the public expects.

“While leadership starts at the top, the Commission has rightly recognised the importance of identifying and developing talented leadership at all levels of policing, and we support the idea of a root and branch modernisation of recruitment, training and performance monitoring. However, a greater emphasis should have been placed on driving improvement in the culture, ethics and inclusive leadership of forces.

“There are many great senior leaders in policing but there have been too many examples in recent years where the behaviour and actions of chief officers have been found wanting, and it is disappointing this is not addressed by the Leadership Review. Chief constables’ actions are highly consequential and where there have been allegations of misconduct, Police and Crime Commissioners and Deputy Mayors have demonstrated they have the authority and the tools to make sure those are properly investigated. If public trust and confidence is to be improved, it is vital the future policing model, both locally and nationally, retains robust and transparent public accountability.”

Note

• Emily Spurrell is Police and Crime Commissioner for Merseyside
• The Police Leadership Commission’s full report, Professionalism and performance: Police leadership for the future, is available here.