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Appointment of Her Majesty's Chief House of Commons Home Affairs Committee Appointment of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary Third Report of Session 2012–13 Volume II Oral and written evidence Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 26 June 2012 HC 183-II Published on 9 August 2012 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £7.50 The Home Affairs Committee The Home Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Home Office and its associated public bodies. Current membership Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP (Labour, Leicester East) (Chair) Nicola Blackwood MP (Conservative, Oxford West and Abingdon) James Clappison MP (Conservative, Hertsmere) Michael Ellis MP (Conservative, Northampton North) Lorraine Fullbrook MP (Conservative, South Ribble) Dr Julian Huppert MP (Liberal Democrat, Cambridge) Steve McCabe MP (Labour, Birmingham Selly Oak) Rt Hon Alun Michael MP (Labour & Co-operative, Cardiff South and Penarth) Bridget Phillipson MP (Labour, Houghton and Sunderland South) Mark Reckless MP (Conservative, Rochester and Strood) Mr David Winnick MP (Labour, Walsall North) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/homeaffairscom. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Tom Healey (Clerk), Richard Benwell (Second Clerk), Ruth Davis (Committee Specialist), Eleanor Scarnell (Committee Specialist), Andy Boyd (Senior Committee Assistant), John Graddon (Committee Support Officer) and Alex Paterson (Select Committee Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Home Affairs Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 3276; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Witnesses Tuesday 26 June 2012 Page Rt Hon Nick Herbert MP, Minister of State for Police and Criminal Justice Ev 1 Tom Winsor, Government's preferred candidate for Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary Ev 9 List of printed written evidence 1 Home Office Ev 21, Ev 22 2 White & Case LLP Ev 22, Ev 23 List of Reports from the Committee during the current Parliament The reference number of the Government’s response to each Report is printed in brackets after the HC printing number. Session 2012–13 First Report Effectiveness of the Committee in 2010–12 HC 144 Second Report Work of the Permanent Secretary (April–Dec 2011) HC 145 Third Report Pre-appointment Hearing for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of HC 183 Constabulary Fourth Report Private Investigators HC 100 Fifth Report The work of the UK Border Agency (Dec 2011–March 2012) HC 71 Sixth Report The work of the Border Force HC 523 Session 2010–12 First Report Immigration Cap HC 361 Second Report Policing: Police and Crime Commissioners HC 511 Third Report Firearms Control HC 447 Fourth Report The work of the UK Border Agency HC 587 Fifth Report Police use of Tasers HC 646 Sixth Report Police Finances HC 695 Seventh Report Student Visas HC 773 Eighth Report Forced marriage HC 880 Ninth Report The work of the UK Border Agency (Nov 2010-March 2011) HC 929 Tenth Report Implications for the Justice and Home Affairs area of the HC 789 accession of Turkey to the European Union Eleventh Report Student Visas – follow up HC 1445 Twelfth Report Home Office – Work of the Permanent Secretary HC 928 Thirteenth Report Unauthorised tapping into or hacking of mobile HC 907 communications Fourteenth Report New Landscape of Policing HC 939 Fifteenth Report The work of the UK Border Agency (April-July 2011) HC 1497 Sixteenth Report Policing large scale disorder HC 1456 Seventeenth Report UK Border Controls HC 1647 Eighteenth Report Rules governing enforced removals from the UK HC 563 Nineteenth Report Roots of violent radicalisation HC 1446 Twentieth Report Extradition HC 644 Twenty-first Report Work of the UK Border Agency (Aug-Dec 2011) HC 1722 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [SO] Processed: [06-08-2012 13:08] Job: 022254 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/022254/022254_w002a_grace_B - 120720 White & Case.xml Home Affairs Committee: Evidence Ev 1 Oral evidence Taken before the Home Affairs Committee on Tuesday 26 June 2012 Members present: Keith Vaz (Chair) Nicola Blackwood Alun Michael Mr James Clappison Bridget Phillipson Michael Ellis Mark Reckless Lorraine Fullbrook Mr David Winnick Dr Julian Huppert ________________ Examination of Witness Witness: Rt Hon Nick Herbert MP, Minister of State for Police and Criminal Justice, gave evidence. Q1 Chair: Minister, good morning; my apologies for it was between £220,000 and £224,000, but you have keeping you waiting for this hearing, but thank you advertised this post at a lower salary? very much for coming in. Nick Herbert: Yes, I don’t think you can read Nick Herbert: Not at all. anything into that in relation to the job description; I Chair: Could I refer all those present to the Register think that is more a reflection of the age of austerity of Members Interests where the interests of the and it is already, and will be in many people’s eyes, a Members of this Committee are noted and in very good salary indeed, but was a reflection of the particular is there anyone else who wishes to make necessity we felt to recruit somebody of the highest a declaration? possible calibre, either from the ranks of senior Alun Michael: Chairman, can I declare the fact that policing where such salaries would not be uncommon I am a candidate for election as Police and Crime or, indeed, from another sector. Commissioner in South Wales. Chair: Thank you, Mr Michael. Minister, if I could Q3 Chair: When you set out to fill Sir Denis’ post, start by asking you about the post and the you and the Home Secretary, did you all decide at that advertisement that went out. Is this a different post stage that it was possible to have someone who was that you are trying to fill in respect of the job not a police officer in this job? description to that that was occupied by Sir Denis Nick Herbert: Yes. O’Connor? Is there a step change in the way in which Chair: Was it a conscious decision for you to look the Government wishes to look at the Inspectorate? outside? Nick Herbert: No, I don’t think step change would be Nick Herbert: Yes, and in the brief that we gave Saxton Bampfylde, the recruitment consultants who the right way to describe it. I think the role of the we employed to go and search for candidates and help Inspectorate has been evolving over recent years and manage the initial process, we specified that we indeed the previous Government took steps to change wanted them to include independent candidates as the role of the Inspectorate to make it more well as those from the police service. So we were independent of the police service. I think we have quite clear that that was part of their terms of continued that evolution in the Coalition Government reference. and indeed legislated in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act to change the Inspectorate for Q4 Chair: As far as the process is concerned, is there instance that it would now report to Parliament not to anything that you have seen in the process that you the Government, which I think is right. Increasingly are concerned about, or are you happy with the way the Inspectorate is rightly seen as being the guardian in which the process operated? of the public interest in policing and has been one Nick Herbert: The process was a very proper one and of the mechanisms of ensuring that police forces can I am very happy to take the Committee through it if properly be held to account as a monopoly service it would be helpful, on how the approach was taken. for revealing what is happening in the police service. Chair: I think we have the actual process but we are Whereas I think previously, before Sir Denis, the interested in the vision behind it. Inspectorate was a body that was closer to the police Nick Herbert: I think that what was helpful about the service, operated in a way that was rather more quietly process from the point of view of Ministers is we had about trying to fix problems in association with the the engagement of a recruitment consultant who was police service and was not the kind of independent helping to try to approach people and identify body that I think is now needed for what is, in the candidates. We then had a selection panel that end, a monopoly public service. included independent people, including for instance Lord Dear, who was the former Chief Constable of Q2 Chair: We have noticed that the salary has West Midlands and HMI, who was a member of that changed. Certainly when Sir Denis was doing the job selection panel as well as the Permanent Secretary of cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [06-08-2012 13:08] Job: 022254 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/022254/022254_w002a_grace_B - 120720 White & Case.xml Ev 2 Home Affairs Committee: Evidence 26 June 2012 Rt Hon Nick Herbert MP the Home Office, the number two on crime and don’t want to; it is because I think it is only fair to policing in the Home Office, and the non-executive those individuals.
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