No sign of police conduct report

Mark Gilmore was suspended from his role as chief constable of West Yorkshire Police in June 2014 amid an investigation into the allegedly corrupt award of police vehicle contracts in his native Northern Ireland.

Although he was told he had no criminal case to answer last April and the suspension was lifted, Mr Gilmore became the subject of a misconduct investigation by Lancashire Police and never returned to his post.

An independent report from Lancashire Police was received by West Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson on July 26 and Mr Gilmore’s retirement was announced on August 9.

It later emerged that he was able to retire despite facing misconduct allegations at the time, because changes to police procedures stopping this from happening only came into force after the allegations were raised.

Coun Andrew Carter, leader of Leeds city council’s Conservative group, said: “My view is that whilst I understand there may well be some confidentiality issues, I am very concerned that the police and crime commissioner of West Yorkshire seems to be sitting on this report.

“It is now three months since he received it, and surely a lot of it can be made public, and should be.

“We must not forget that West Yorkshire Police have been without a chief constable for more than two years, and to not make public as much as can possibly be made public of this report, can only damage public confidence in the PCC in particular but also in West Yorkshire Police.”

Mr Mark Burns-Williamson told the YEP that he was “committed to putting as much information into the public domain as possible”.

But he said: “However with this report, there are legal considerations in regards to privacy and data protection that I am bound to adhere to.

“We have had a Temporary Chief Constable, Dee Collins, in post keeping West Yorkshire safe and feeling safe over the past two years. The process to recruit a permanent Chief Constable is currently underway.”