The incumbent PFCC plans to recruit the next Chief Constable, and why that is wrong

Keith Tordoff, independent candidate for Mayor of North Yorkshire, has said that the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, Zoe Metcalfe, is wrong to start the recruitment process for Chief Constable - it should be left to the newly appointed Mayor, whoever that is.

Chief Constable of North Yorkshire, Lisa Winward, has said she will retire at the end of March 2024.

The role of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner of Zoe Metcalfe will come to and end, following the appointment of the North Yorkshire Mayor and the Mayor appointing a deputy mayor to lead the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner function.

However, The Police, Fire, and Crime Commissioner has just announced that she will be be selecting the next Chief Constable, despite there only being only being a month from the current Chief Constable retiring, and the Mayoral elections for North Yorkshire.

Keith Tordoff is the independent candidate for the Mayor of North Yorkshire, and believes that this decision is wrong. He says that this is a key relationship for the Mayor's office, and that this is being rushed through out of vanity by Zoe Metcalfe.

Keith Tordoff said:

The decision by Zoe Metcalfe is short-sited, ill-informed, and not in the best interest of the people of North Yorkshire, or the police force itself.

This is the wrong decision as the Lisa Winward retires at the end of March, and a new Mayor is elected just a month later in May.

The Mayor takes over as the Police, Fire, and Crime Commissioner, and needs to be part of the process of electing the successor, that they will be working closely with.

The Deputy or Assistant Chief Constable are more than able to act as an interim Chief Constable, and that has happened in the past.

It is not clear why the recruitment is being rushed through, and it is important that we attract the best candidates for this role, this approach is unlikely to do that.