Second elected police chief to appoint deputy

West Yorkshire police and crime commissioner (PCC) Mark Burns-Williamson said the recruitment process for the “demanding” role would begin once a permanent chief constable has been found for the force.

The former West Yorkshire Police Authority chairman said finding a replacement for Sir Norman Bettison, who stepped down in October in the wake of the damning Hillsborough report, was his “first priority”.

The post is currently being advertised for and a shortlist will be drawn up and the interview process will follow soon, he said.

“Once the chief constable appointment is made I will look to run a similar process for a deputy police and crime commissioner and to properly scope out what will also be a demanding role,” he said.

Mr Burns-Williamson also confirmed he would soon be standing down as a Labour councillor for Castleford and Glasshoughton to focus on his new role.

“I will be shortly having discussions with Wakefield Council about a date for officially standing down and the winding down and handover of local commitments after serving for 14 years as a local councillor,” he said.

“This is something that I always intended to do if I was elected and I informed colleagues at the council and the local Labour Party well in advance.”

“I always accepted that, if elected, it would be a very demanding and full-time role, and to continue as a councillor would, in my view, not be fair to the electors.”

Mr Burns-Williamson waived his monthly allowance from the council when he was elected as commissioner in November.

He has also pledged to donate £5,000 of his £100,000 salary to a fund to help victims of crime.

He is the second elected police chief in Yorkshire to announce his intention to hire a deputy.

It follows the controversial decision by the newly-elected Humberside PCC Matthew Grove to appoint a close political ally to assist him for a five-figure salary.

Mr Grove has been accused of “cronyism” after hiring fellow East Riding Conservative councillor Paul Robinson to the £45,000-a-year, four-day-a-week job last month against a watchdog’s recommendations.

But he has defended his decision, saying he had “total trust and confidence” in his colleague and urging people to judge him on his results, not the process.

“The enormity of this role is not lost on me and I need a deputy who I can rely on to challenge me on the big issues, to be a critical friend and lead on significant areas of work on my behalf,” he said.

The Humberside Police and Crime Panel voted eight to one against the appointment of Mr Robinson, who has refused to step down from his Howdenshire seat, for which he receives an annual allowance of £10,711.

The panel expressed concerns that Mr Robinson would not have time to fulfil both roles properly.

Mr Grove, who earns £75,000 a year as commissioner, intends to give up his Mid-Holderness seat this year.

Mr Robinson worked closely with Mr Grove on his election campaign, which saw him defeat former Labour Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott.

As many as 16 of the 41 PCCs in England and Wales intended to appoint deputies on salaries totalling at least £468,000, according to reports last month.

A number have not advertised the roles and instead hired colleagues and political allies.

Deputy commissioners who have already been appointed across the country include the ex-mayor of Ely, who was hired by Tory Party colleague Sir Graham Bright and is to be paid a salary of £28,000 for the three-day-a-week job in Cambridgeshire.

Meanwhile, David Carroll, who sat with Thames Valley PCC Anthony Stansfeld on the area’s old Police Authority committee and worked alongside him as a fellow Tory councillor, will be paid £35,000 for a 22-hour working week, it was reported.

The Taxpayers’ Alliance has branded deputies unelected bureaucrats, which the introduction of commissioners had been meant to stamp out.

North Yorkshire PCC Julia Mulligan has no plans to hire a deputy, a spokeswoman said yesterday, and it is understood nor does South Yorkshire PCC Shaun Wright.

The salary the West Yorkshire deputy will receive has yet to be decided.