Selasa, 09 April 2013

Lance goes missing

Lance Kennedy was missing again from today’s meeting of Devon and Cornwall’s Police and Crime Panel. That’s the body which oversees the work of the elected Commissioner. It’s the second meeting in a row that Lance has missed and he is meant to be the Vice Chair of the panel.

The panel is not a trivial thing and the last meeting considered the three biggest subjects within its remit - the appointment of the new Chief Constable, the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan and the council tax precept. Today’s meeting is also not a small matter as the Commissioner is presenting the final version of his plan and it is a chance to hold him to account for his work to date.

Lance’s absence is all the more serious because he is the Cornwall councillor in charge of public protection. He is paid £16,000 per year (in addition to the £12,000 basic allowance) to take lead responsibility on policing and community safety. The fact that he has not turned up to the last two meetings of the panel seems to me like dereliction of duty.

When Lance was a police officer, if he failed to turn up for work then he would have faced some very serious consequences. Surely when he is Cornwall’s senior elected member responsible for community safety then he should be held to the same standards.


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