Bedfordshire’s police and crime commissioner (PCC) John Tizard has described his first six months in office as a “foundation period” focused on building relationships, improving governance, and setting the stage for long-term change.
The PCC, John Tizard, was elected in May, and he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that: “It has been about familiarisation, it’s been about building relations with key partners.
“It’s been about appointing a new chief executive, sorting out the office, and so on.
“I’ve put systems in place, including improving governance and the transparency of data,” he said.
The PCC said that he had held public meetings in Harrold, Leighton/Linslade, and Bury Park, adding that these public meetings will be monthly starting in the New Year.
“We followed up on specific issues that have been raised, and operational issues have been passed onto the police,” he said.
“And I’ve been accompanied by the chief inspector or a similar level at each one answering questions.”
He added that some of the issues raised will be part of the development of stage two of his Police and Crime Plan.
As well as the public meetings, the PCC has spoken to all three local authorities, town and parish councils, the Integrated Care Board, MPs, and stakeholders from the criminal justice system.
The PCC said: “I’ve met a whole range of other stakeholders, and I’m meeting community groups and organisations several times a week.”
The PCC served on the Bedfordshire Police Authority in the 1990s, and he said that when the coalition government introduced police and crime commissioners his instinct was that local government had a bigger role to play in holding the police to account.
“I think the [PCC] role clearly has evolved,” he said.
“The role is very different [to the police authority], but I think it’s more efficient and more effective in many ways. Because you’ve got a [single] person who can make a decision.
“The issue then is about getting that transparency and that accountability.
“But I suspect I hold the current chief constable to account more effectively than the police authority did in my day,” he said.
“Over the last six months, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some amazing people. People who want to work with me and with the police, so I feel we’ve got a real family for partnership in collaborative working across the system.
“A lot of what’s in my plan requires system change, not just police change. I think we’ve got the basis for that, but these things take time.
“If you’re going to change culture and behaviour it takes a long time. So, it will be some time before we get some of those results. [But] in six months time and certainly in a year there will be some very tangible results,” he said.
by John Guinn
Local Democracy Reporter
