Kentish Express Ashford & District
Watchdog panel ‘failed to scrutinise appointment’ MPS slam youth crime commissioner ‘fiasco’
MPs have criticised the failure of Kent’s crime commissioner watchdog to properly scrutinise what they said was the “fiasco” of the appointment of the county’s first youth commissioner.
Paris Brown, 17, of Sheppey, was forced to quit the role last month after just a week in post after it emerged she had sent offensive tweets considered to be racist and homophobic.
MPs on the home affairs select committee have published a report criticising the way the Kent and Medway Police and Crime Panel dealt with the matter.
It said the panel, whose job it is to hold the commissioner to account, failed to properly scrutinise the appointment.
The report said: “We are concerned that incompetent legal advisers appear to have sought to prevent PCPs [crime panels] from even meeting to scrutinise key and highly questionable decisions by [police and crime commissioners], for instance the sus- pension of the chief constable in Lincolnshire and the fiasco concerning the appointment of a “youth commissioner” in Kent.”
It added: “It is in such circumstances that a panel chair needs to ensure that the crime panel meets urgently. If they fail to do so, on the basis of wholly inap- propriate legal advice or otherwise, the process of local scrutiny of the PCP role falls into disre-
What do you think? Write to Kentish Express, 34-36 North Street, Ashford, TN24 8JR or email kentishexpress@thekmgroup.co.uk pute.” The panel is made up of councillors and lay representatives. It is chaired by Kent county councillor Mike Hill.
At its last meeting, the panel was told it could not question the commissioner about the appointment because Paris Brown was that time the subject of a police investigation into whether her tweets had broken any laws.
MPs also criticised the high deposit which candidates standing in crime commissioner elections had to pay, saying the figure of £5,000 “might have an effect on competition and diversity”.
“While we recognise that PCCs must be of the highest integrity, we also believe that the rules barring anyone from standing who has a criminal conviction for an imprisonable offence, even as a juvenile, are excessive and should be brought into line with the rules for other public offices.”
Paris Brown’s appointment and resignation were regarded as a major embarrassment for Kent’s first crime commissioner, Ann Barnes, but she has insisted she intends to continue with appointing a replacement.