NEW APPTS TO THE INDEPENDENT POLICE COMPLAINTS COMMISSION

26 Jun 2003 10:45 AM

The first deputy chairs and team of commissioners have been appointed to head up the new Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), Home Secretary David Blunkett announced today.

John Wadham, director of Liberty since 1995, and Claire Gilham, a Deputy District Judge and a lecturer at Salford University, have been appointed as deputy chairs. They will take up their posts from September, along with 15 commissioners, and will oversee guardianship of the new complaints system and monitor and review procedures for dealing with police misconduct.

The IPCC, which will replace the Police Complaints Authority in April 2004, will help raise standards and maintain police and public confidence in the police complaints process through greater openness, accessibility and independence. The Commission will be independent of the Government and the police and will take its own decisions on the type of investigation appropriate to particular complaints.

Mr Blunkett said:

"I am pleased to announce these new appointments to the IPCC. The team's diverse background and wealth of experience mean they will be key to contributing to a complaints system that commands the full confidence of the public and police. They will play a vital role in providing independence and ensuring the accountability and integrity of the system.

"The establishment of the IPCC is an important part of the Government's reforms of the police service. It will help to ensure that complaints or allegations of misconduct against police staff are investigated thoroughly and that the system is open and transparent."

Nick Hardwick, chair of the IPCC, said:

"I am very much looking forward to working with the new commissioners who I am certain will make a vital contribution to the work of the IPCC. The Commissioners will be the guardians of the IPCC's independence. They will play an important role in establishing the IPCC's values and culture. Their work will involve making fair judgements on cases, working to increase the confidence of communities and the police service. They will face many new challenges I am sure, in what will be exciting and important work."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. The Independent Police Complaints Commission, established as part of the Police Reform Act 2002, will replace the Police Complaints Authority on the 1st April 2004. It was set up in shadow form on 1 April 2003 to ensure that all necessary arrangements are in place.

2. The IPCC will have its own investigative teams and be able to choose to take on cases separately from the police service. It will also have powers to manage or supervise police investigations and consider appeals from complaints against police decisions. The Commission will also have powers of inspection and monitoring to assist it in its role as guardian of the new system, ensuring that the entire system is effective and enjoys the confidence of the public.

3. Nick Hardwick was appointed chair of the IPCC in December 2002 (Home Office press notice 345/2002).

4. Under the provisions of the Police Reform Act, the deputy chairs and commissioners are full time public appointments, appointed by the Home Secretary.

5. The recruitment process for the deputy chair and commissioner posts were made in accordance with guidance issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

6. The appointments will be for a period of five years, with a remuneration of between £50,000 and £70,000. The Commissioners are expected to begin taking up their posts from September and all be in post by the end of January 04.

7. Biographical details of the new appointees as follows:

Claire Gilham
Claire Gilham currently holds a number of positions: Lecturer, Deputy District Judge, Lay Chair NHS Complaints procedure, Board Member of Muir Group Housing Association, Chair of Statutory enquiries, Northwest region and Member of the Mental Health Act Commission.

John Wadham
John Wadham has been the Director of Liberty since 1995.

Ian Bynoe
Ian Bynoe has been the First Deputy Chair of the PCA since 2002. He was previously the second Deputy Chair, preceded by a role as a PCA Member from 1998.

John Crawley
John Crawley is currently the Chief Executive of fch Housing and Care (a Midlands housing, social care and regeneration agency). He is also Chair of a NHS Primary Care Trust.

Tom Davies
Tom Davies is currently the Director for Wales, the Prince's Trust, where he has been for the last four years.

Mike Franklin
Mike Franklin is currently working with the HM Inspectorate of Constabulary as an assistant inspector with a portfolio for race and diversity.

Gary Garland
Gary Garland is currently a Trial Attorney with the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia dealing with serious breaches of international law. He has previous experience as an international prosecutor and a senior prosecution lawyer and a former member of the Bar Council.

Deborah Glass
Deborah Glass is currently a full time Member of the PCA, where she has been for the last two years. She was previously Chief Executive of the Investment Management Regulatory Organisation.

Len Jackson
Len Jackson is currently Chair of the East Midlands Sports Board. He was previously Managing Director of Amelca plc and Pork Farms (Northern Foods plc). He has chaired voluntarily New Deal Employer Coalition and Common Purpose, an Educational Charity.

Nicholas Long
Nicholas Long is currently a surveyor and member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, where he is Deputy Chair of the Finance Committee. He is also a Trustee of NACRO, Deputy Chair of the Lambeth Crime Prevention Trust and a member of the Operation Trident Independent Advisory Group, which he previously chaired.

Laurence Lustgarten
Laurence Lustgarten is currently a Professor of Law at the University of Southampton; occasional lecturer to the judiciary and police service; member of the Advisory Council of the Kurdish Human Rights project.

Naseem Malik
Naseem Malik is currently the Head of Legal Service at Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council. She has also been a senior solicitor and principle solicitor at Oldham and Blackburn Borough Councils and has been sub Chair of a Cabinet Office Social Inclusion Unit Policy Action Team.

Rebecca Marsh
Rebecca Marsh is currently Operations Manager at the Guidance Accreditation Board and is Deputy Chair of Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust. She was previously a regional lay Chair for NHS Complaints.

Mehmuda Mian Pritchard
Mehmuda Mian Pritchard is currently a PCA Member. She is also a non-executive director of the MHS Litigation Authority and Friend of ASRA Housing Association. She was previously a senior
solicitor/caseworker at the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors and a non-executive director of the North Birmingham Mental Health Trust.

David Petch
David Petch is currently a PCA Member. Previously his career was in the Ministry of Defence and in the Cabinet Office where he was Deputy Chief of Assessments Staff.

Amerdeep Somal
Amerdeep Somal is a Prosecution team leader at the CPS. She is Secretary of Roshni Asian Woman's Refuge Management Committee.

Nicola Williams
Nicola Williams is a Barrister and has been a PCA Member since September 2001.