Appendix 3
Letter to Rt Hon Sir Alan Beith MP, Chair of the
Justice Select Committee, to Rt Hon Jeremy Wright QC MP, Attorney
General,
3 December 2014
The recruitment of a Chief Inspector for Her Majesty's
Crown Prosecution Inspectorate (HMCPSI)
A recruitment exercise for this role has been carried
out in accordance with the Public Appointments Commission Code
of Practice, chaired by a Public Appointments Chair. It was hoped
that there would be a preferred candidate who would appear in
front of the Justice Committee on 9 December. Unfortunately, the
Board did not recommend any of the applicants for appointment.
There were 16 applications for the role from a range
of backgrounds including the Bar, the CPS, the judiciary, wider
CJS backgrounds and regulatory bodies. Of these, the panel agreed
to pass 5 candidates through to interview. One of these shortlisted
candidates withdrew from the competition at this stage. Interviews
took place on the 13th and 14Ih November. The panel was made up
of:
Margaret Scott, Public appointments assessor arid
panel chair;
Rowena Collins Rice, Director General of the Attorney
General's Office;
Lord Justice Holroyde, Presiding Judge of the Northern
Circuit; and
Drusilla Sharpling, Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary,
Wales and Western region.
The panel concluded that while each of the 4 candidates
showed some of the essential criteria outlined in the job specification,
there could be other potential candidates, who had not applied
this time who could provide more evidence of their suitability
for the role. This being the case, it was decided to re-run the
competition.
The outline timetable for the new competition is
as follows
| December | Advert to the Chair of Justice Committee, and if approved, to go live
|
| Early Feb | Identify preferred candidate and notify Justice Committee
|
| February | Pre-appointment hearing and confirm appointment, subject to Committee report
|
| 1 April 2015 | Take up appointment
|
I hope the timetable meets with your approval and that we will
be able to agree a date in February with you for the pre-appointment
hearing.
| 
