Please find below statement which should be attributed to Policing Board Chair Anne Connolly:
“The Policing Board today moved to the next stage in the appointment process for the new Chief Constable with the nomination of a selection panel to progress the competition.
The Members appointed to the panel are Board Chair Anne Connolly, John Blair MLA, Alan Chambers MLA, Linda Dillon MLA, Dolores Kelly MLA, Colm McKenna, Wendy Osborne and Mervyn Storey MLA.
This is a significant appointment for policing and following discussions today, the Board is fully confident that the process can move ahead with integrity and on the basis of equality of opportunity for all.
The Board, and the panel now appointed, is responsible for progressing a recruitment process that is based on the key principles of merit, fairness, openness and transparency. The processes and procedures already outlined in the Board’s Guidance for the Appointment of Chief Officers and Senior Police Equivalents assurance encapsulate excellence in recruitment practice and associated employment legislation.
In order to provide further assurance and confidence, the Board has today agreed to incorporate additional independent scrutiny throughout the process to bring an extra level of scrutiny, probity and transparency.
In moving forward it is the Board’s priority to ensure the appointment process as a whole is based on principles of equality of opportunity for all potential candidates with the competition completed by the end of June 2019.”
Ends
Click here to view the Guidance for the Appointment of Chief Officers and Senior Police Staff Equivalents: www.nipolicingboard.org.uk/files/nipolicingboard/media-files/appointment-of-chief-officers-and-%20senior-police-staff.pdf