Appendix 2
Letter to Rt Hon Jeremy Wright QC MP, Attorney
General, from Rt Hon Sir Alan Beith MP, Chair of the Justice Select
Committee,
14 September 2014
The recruitment of a Chief Inspector of Her Majesty's
Crown Prosecution Service
Thank you for your letter and accompanying draft
advert and job description outlining the planned recruitment process
for the next Chief Inspector of Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution
Service who is due to be appointed upon the end of the current
Chief Inspector's term in March 2015. I can confirm that I am
happy with the timetable you propose for the recruitment and the
broad thrust of the draft advert and job description. On the latter,
I have a few comments which you may wish to consider.
First, I note that the proposed overview of the role
highlights the resource and budget constraints under which the
new Chief Inspector will operate. Therefore, there may be merit
in drawing out further, within the essential criteria, the need
for good financial acumen, operational rigour and resource efficiency
skills, perhaps as an addition to the fourth criterion listed.
Similarly, there is rightly an emphasis on relationship building
within the job description, and you may therefore wish to incorporate
the importance of engagement with key stakeholders into the essential
criteria.
I believe it would also be desirable for the Chief
Inspector's ability to maintain independence to be emphasised
further, perhaps within the penultimate essential criterion; the
independence of the Chief Inspector is of great importance in
ensuring the public's trust in the findings and recommendations
of the Inspectorate. In addition, having considered the job description
at the time of the current Chief Inspector's appointment in 2009,
I note that the essential criteria then included a commitment
to the principles and practice of natural justice and diversity.
I believe there may be value in including a criterion along these
lines on this occasion as well.
Finally, I have been extremely impressed with the
practice of the current Chief Inspector in emphasising the importance
of following up over time the Inspectorate's findings and recommendations.
I would hope that in choosing a preferred candidate you will be
looking for someone who is able to foster a similar ethos of continuous
improvement and the monitoring of change over time.
I hope you find these suggestions of use, and I look
forward to discussing this important role further with your preferred
candidate upon their appearance before the Committee in December.
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