Home Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by Nick Gargan QPM, Chief Constable, Avon and Somerset Constabulary [LSP 41]

Office of Chief Constable

You wrote to me last week requesting that I supply “a week in the life of a Chief Constable”. As the week requested was not a full week (owing to Bank Holiday Monday on 6th May) I am supplying the week commencing 13th May. I hope that this is acceptable.

Here goes.

Monday

Began with the weekly Chief Officer round up meeting. We planned the Chief Officer group meeting for later in the month, discussed promotion selection processes as well as staff briefings for later in the week.

After the Chief Officer briefing I travelled to Yeovil (93 miles round trip) to meet with the Chief Executive of South Somerset Council and his Council Leader Cllr Mike Best. This meeting was to discuss opportunities to collaborate to save money, as well as for me to explain boundary changes which are currently being implemented within the Constabulary. As a new Chief Constable it was also an inaugural opportunity to say hello.

I travelled back to Police HQ and met with the Deputy Chief Constable for his annual appraisal, as well as to discuss his appointment as Deputy Chief Executive at the College of Policing in London (and my corresponding need to find a new DCC).

At 5.00 p.m. I was due to play 5-aside football with members of staff from Police HQ, but unfortunately there were insufficient numbers for a meaningful game to take place! Instead, I had discussions with the Strategic Director of HR on the policing protocol order 2011!

Tuesday

I sat down with my PA for diary planning as well as to record hospitality and expenses in order that they could be published on the website. I then saw a member of the Covert Authorities’ Bureau to consider a request for authorisation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

I was then delighted to receive a letter from the Cabinet Office thanking Avon and Somerset colleagues for their support in the trial of Integrated Offender Management in Bristol. Sadly my delight turned to slight disappointment when I asked the Cabinet Office for permission to tweet this letter, in order that a broader policing population could see details of this fine piece of work. Sadly, the Cabinet Office Press Office requested that I did nothing to publicise the correspondence. A shame.

Later on Tuesday morning I met briefly with Sue Mountstevens, the Police and Crime Commissioner before we were both joined by Lord Taylor, Home Office Minister, as part of his visit to Avon and Somerset. We discussed his time with our Serious and Organised Crime teams as well as Offender Management, the iniquities of the way in which the police funding formula is applied as well as our positive response to Home Office consultation on direct entry. It was a friendly, positive and upbeat meeting.

I spent Tuesday afternoon travelling down to the Police Federation Conference, pausing on the way to be interviewed by BBC Radio Somerset.

Early on Tuesday evening, I joined a telephone conference of regional Chief Constables and PCCs to discuss a joint response to an offer of Home Office funding in support of organised crime investigation. I then attended a dinner at Police Federation conference as a guest of the Sergeants’ Central Committee.

Wednesday

In the morning I started the day with a live radio interview with BBC Radio Bristol at 8.05 a.m. before heading straight into the conference hall at Bournemouth. There I participated in a panel discussion, on the role of the private sector in policing. After the conference session, I remained in Bournemouth to listen to the speeches of the Home Secretary and the Chairman of the Police Federation before travelling to London to attend a meeting at Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary. I am a member of the Reference Group for HMI’s Valuing the Police programme, a role which forms part of my new set of wider responsibilities as the ACPO lead for Finance and Resources. Later that day I attended the annual CBI dinner as a guest of Capita where I discussed the future of police custody (and other) outsourcing with Capita’s Chief Operating Officer.

I travelled back late on Wednesday evening, arriving home in the early hours of Thursday.

Thursday

I was up early and travelled to Taunton to join a group of local dignitaries welcoming 40 Commando Royal Marines home from Afghanistan. I also visited Taunton Police Station and spoke to operational colleagues involved in the policing operation in support of the parade.

On my way back to Bristol, I made a pre-arranged stop off at Bristol Airport to observe policing arrangements there and meet the team. I was briefed about discussions on funding for airport policing both in terms of Special Branch officers as well as our uniform presence.

I then travelled back to Police HQ and had a meeting with Dairy UK to discuss the police response to the future badger cull. There then followed a meeting with our Head of Communications about stakeholder engagement for the rest of 2013, then a discussion with the PCC about funding models and finally a further application for a covert authorisation, this time under the Police Act 1997.

At the end of the day I joined a meeting between our PCC and the Head of Neighbourhood Watch across Avon and Somerset to discuss how the Constabulary could support Watch schemes more effectively.

Friday

I joined the weekly regional teleconference for Chief Constables before holding my weekly meeting with the PCC. I then met with the Head of our Central Authorities Bureau to discuss some changes to our policy for the authorisation of covert activity by me as senior authorising officer.

I also received a briefing on my attendance at the forthcoming Licensing Policy Scrutiny Board which was to take place the following week in Bristol.

Later on Friday morning, I gave three further covert authorisations, before hosting the regional annual lunch for retired ACPO officers (attended by several former chief constables including, three from Gloucestershire, two from Devon and Cornwall, two from Avon and Somerset and one from South Yorkshire!).

Once the lunch had finished I addressed a group of 80 senior leaders from across the Constabulary, detailing changes that are taking place across the Constabulary and asking for their feedback on these as well as their support in delivering a new vision for the Constabulary. On Friday evening I attended the Spring Banquet of Bristol Merchant Venturers’ organisation, comprising local business leaders.

Saturday

I spent most of the morning in conversation with the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police who asked me to agree to undertake an investigation into his force. This prompted discussions with my PCC, senior colleagues in Avon and Somerset and further contact with Chief Constable Gilmore.

Sunday

I attended the Rush Sunday Civic Service: a traditional Whitsun service which is held in St. Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol. The Chief Constable processes alongside members of the Constabulary Mace Escort in a service that dates back many centuries. I attended the short reception in the grounds of St. Mary Redcliffe Church before returning home.

To paraphrase the legendary Assistant Commissioner Bill Griffiths of the Metropolitan Police (now long retired) “the rest of the week was then my own!”

Additionally in the course of the week I received 360 emails and sent 97. I also received 54 meeting requests. I also tweeted about my week and about the exploits of the force, sharing over 50 tweets with around 5,000 followers. I also kept in touch with senior on-call officers in the Constabulary. In the week the force dealt with:

1,836 reported crimes.

8,538 calls for police services.

4,117 emergency calls (999).

13,504 non-emergency calls.

and attended 4,269 incidents.

Conclusion

I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the Committee’s inquiry on leadership. I have found this exercise very interesting. I hope that the committee finds this interesting and, I hope, useful.

Nick Gargan QPM
Chief Constable, Avon and Somerset Constabulary

May 2013