Deputy Sussex police and crime commissioner appointed despite panel fears

2:30pm Tuesday 12th February 2013 in News By Emily Walker, Chief Reporter

Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne

Sussex’s first police and crime commissioner is to appoint a councillor as her deputy – despite a panel saying he didn’t have the time for the job.

Katy Bourne last week announced her intention to hire Steve Waight, the former head of Sussex Police Authority – the body she replaced – as her £45,000 a year deputy.

Members of Sussex Police and Crime Panel, which is supposed to hold Ms Bourne to account but has no power to veto her decisions, said they feared Worthing borough councillor Mr Waight “would not be able to devote enough time to this demanding job”.

But Mrs Bourne yesterday (February 11) revealed she had decided to ignore the panel’s recommendation and said she would be sticking with Mr Waight.

She said: “I am grateful for the considerations of the panel regarding my proposed appointment.

“I have now carefully considered their points and have decided to formally appoint Steve Waight as deputy police and crime commissioner.

“I am confident that his proven ability and experience will enable him to fulfil the role to the standard required for the people of Sussex.

“He has a proven track record at a senior level in police governance, public sector finance and working with local people and communities.

“Furthermore, I am confident that his public duties as a councillor will enhance his role.”

'Creating a rift'

Brad Watson, the chairman of the panel, said: “To those who might see this as creating a rift between the commissioner and the police and crime panel, I would say nothing could be further from the truth.

“Our role is to act as a critical friend, and this is precisely what we have done in this instance.

“We will continue to work closely with the commissioner, and respect any decision she makes.

“The fact that we felt unable to recommend the proposed appointment clearly demonstrates that the panel is acting as it should – as a scrutiny body independent of the commissioner.”

Talking point: To what extent do you feel a deputy is essential to help the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner with her work? Share your views by commenting below or write in to our letters pages letters@theargus.co.uk

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Comments(18)

Atticus says...
2:44pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Whats the point?

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Crystal Ball says...
2:50pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Clearly she cannot do the job.

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michael505 says...
2:59pm Tue 12 Feb 13

The appointment of the Police and Crime Commisioner is a polical appointment and another dig at the Police. The Conservatives used to support the Police but now it is the opposite. They appoint Tom Winsor to carry out a review on the Police appointed by Cameron. He set the rules and what he wanted Winsor to find and low and behold despite flaws in his review he found what Cameron wanted. His reward was to be appointed the new Chief Inspector of Constabulary. How strange. Police numbers are down but crime is also down. I wonder why. Have they changed the recording rules!!. We had a Police Authority of 14 members but the Government want one person to run the Police. How can one persons view be as good as 14?. They wanted to reduce the budget. The Police Authority spent £240,000 on expenses but they appoint a Commisioner who is on £85,000 a year and now a deputy on £45,000 a year. Katy Bourne says she hasn't time to do all the owrk so has appointed her deputy. Might I suggest that perhaps she should work more than three days a week and get on with the work she is supposed to do. I also understand that she has made other appointments so will use up the £240,00 in no time.What a complete waste of time and money. Get rid of her and this useless Government before we all suffer.

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Thetruth666 says...
3:23pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Does anyone actually think these people are good value for public money?What do these people actually do for the vast wages they receive?What do front line Police think of this?It seems to me to be a bit like a public version of the old boys club or Masons.The amount of money "invested" in getting this lady her job alone should raise a few eyebrows.Bend over and take it Peasants!

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nuff said says...
3:31pm Tue 12 Feb 13

As this is a publicly-funded appointment why wasn't the post of Deputy advertised and subject to a fair and transparent appointment process?

Katy Bourne shows herself to be a hypocritical Tory tw*t making a political appointment of one of her cronies to a £45k post.

The Police and Crime Panel is clearly toothless and, if they had any honour, should resign on mass before wasting any more of our money.

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Trimbo says...
4:08pm Tue 12 Feb 13

This simply adds to the argument that the post of Commissioner is a complete waste of time.

Clearly this is more Tory cronyism. Aren't we supposed to be in a recession, and cutting waste Public Expenditure? Let's cut BOTH of these "jobs" now!!!!

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Big Fido says...
4:15pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Rearrange the following words into a well-known phrase or saying:
"trough" "snouts" "in"

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Crystal Ball says...
4:18pm Tue 12 Feb 13

The public are waiting with bated breath for the appointment of a deputy-deputy position, then a deputy's assistant, then a PA to the deputy, etc etc etc.

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loftylad says...
4:59pm Tue 12 Feb 13

A clear case of empire building.I expect that as the deputy is so busy it will be as crystal ball predicted- jobs for the boys.

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D360 says...
5:23pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Could have hired two recruit Constables with that money

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fredflintstone1 says...
5:51pm Tue 12 Feb 13

D360 wrote:
Could have hired two recruit Constables with that money
And it would have been money better spent.

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mimseycal says...
6:16pm Tue 12 Feb 13

fredflintstone1 wrote:
D360 wrote:
Could have hired two recruit Constables with that money
And it would have been money better spent.
I'm in complete agreement.

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mr busy says...
9:08pm Tue 12 Feb 13

What we really need is one or more assistant commissioners, a vice commissioner and some bag carriers. I wonder if Ms Bourne revealed prior to her appointment that she wouldn't have enough time to carry out her duties?

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mimseycal says...
9:39pm Tue 12 Feb 13

mr busy wrote:
What we really need is one or more assistant commissioners, a vice commissioner and some bag carriers. I wonder if Ms Bourne revealed prior to her appointment that she wouldn't have enough time to carry out her duties?
Of course she didn't ... What? And miss this very lucrative opportunity.

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
10:25pm Tue 12 Feb 13

So we have the Tories removing wasteful Quangos and slashing front line services yet here they are populating new empires and doing it with their mates.
This is a crime which should be investigated.

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thevoiceoftruth says...
11:49am Wed 13 Feb 13

All aboard the gravy train! Absolutely disgusting - if she can't do the job capably for that whacking great salary then she should be removed from the post. I am so sick of these self-serving, money-grabbing, greedy gits.

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Clouded Judgement says...
8:37pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Don't worry cause both of them will be on the front line on a Friday or Saturday night pulling a fight apart, holding someone's bloody face together or dealing with the layers of paperwork that has to be done.... Oh wait.... That's right, THEY DON'T.

I wonder if they have a head 'Tweeter' and blogger to keep the public aware of what they are doing to make the Police Service better. Oh wait, no they can't. They have to do a full time job and dedicate their time to the Police rather than this part time blah...

I wonder if a copper can suddenly say "I work a full time wage but I will follow my leader and only work a few days rather than my shift" - errrr no they can't.

Waste of money, waste of time and let's see when they start abusing the claim system like the MP's do now.

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raychapman says...
12:41pm Sat 2 Mar 13

Croydon wants one send her there.. http://www.thisiscro
ydontoday.co.uk/Poli
ce-Crime-Commissione
rs-Croydon-missing/s
tory-17337567-detail
/story.html#axzz2MNx
IrdPr ... although hang on in St Leonards and Hastings crime is on the up since this placement - so maybe not. In Camerons best interest to ensure these roles are finished before the one year probation time is up as we don't want to be paying out huge redundancies for these roles, thats of course if he is considering standing as for primeminister at next election. Maybe his going to give up and let Boris have ago!

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