New fire chief’s appointment recommended pending investigation outcome
Long running ‘farce’ to appoint a new chief fire officer for Northants continues as fire, police and crime panel recommends appointment of senior police officer who is under investigation
We’re sending you an extra news story this evening
By Sarah Ward
Nikki Watson has been recommended by the county’s police, fire and crime panel to become the county’s new fire chief despite the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigation hanging over her head.
It was another tense and at times surreal meeting this afternoon as the panel met at the Guildhall in Northampton for the confirmation hearing, with a number of the panel members speaking out about the appropriateness of appointing Nikki Watson while she is under investigation for an unspecified matter related to her time as deputy chief constable in Avon and Somerset.
Watson, had been put forward by commissioner Stephen Mold, as his preferred candidate, with the panel given the job of approving or vetoing his appointment, but the irrelevance of the panel soon became clear as when it was suggested to postpone the meeting until after the investigation was over, chair Cllr David Smith said Stephen Mold could choose to appoint Nikki Watson anyway.
This was Stephen Mold’s second attempt to appoint Nikki Watson following her no-show in December at the eleventh hour. His office had said at the time it was due to personal reasons, but today he confirmed to the panel that the day before the senior police officer had been ‘officially informed’ of the investigation. (The IOPC informed NN Journal when we exclusively reported the investigation that it had received the referral from her former employer in October).
The job of Northants chief fire officer has been a soap opera since July, when the former fire boss Mark Jones suddenly departed and Stephen Mold improperly installed his close friend, and the head of his own office, Nicci Marzec to the plum job. Amid intense media scrutiny and protests from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), Marzec stood down ten days later and long-serving fire officer Simon Tuhill was appointed as the interim. He was overlooked and the role was given to Watson, who for many years worked as deputy at Avon to her husband Andy Marsh who is now the head of the College of Policing.
The panel is made up of 11 members (following the resignation of independent member Anita Shields) and is politically weighted in the favour of the Conservatives, with eight tory councillors, two Labour and one independent.
However, unusually a number of Conservative panel members decided to speak out, with Cllr Andre Gonzalez de Savage taking the lead, joined by Cllr Russell Roberts, Cllr Jon Paul Carr and Cllr Fiona Baker in expressing concerns about how the appointment process was being handled.
Cllr Gonzalez de Savage said he had received about 200 emails from people expressing their concern.
He said:
“I am quite concerned - to say the very least - about the structure we have here and in fact the purpose that we have, as we quite clearly have a candidate who we will be asking questions of who clearly has an investigation pending. And I think this is really quite concerning for all of us here to be put in this position and also the candidate themselves to be here when we are in a situation to make a decision when she herself has a decision over her which hasn’t been made yet.”
The legal officer for West Northants Council Sarah Hall said it would be inappropriate to discuss the investigation during the meeting. She said the panel could make recommendations to the commissioner about due diligence taking place before the appointment was confirmed. Cllr Gonzalez de Savage responded by quoting from the Northants fire service’s own talent policy which said to be eligible for promotion staff ‘must have no outstanding, disciplinary or attendance issues’.
“How can the panel be put into a situation to have to make a decision which does not comply with its own service policy?”
Sarah Hall said for a veto to take place, there would have to have been a ‘systemic failure’ with regards to the recruitment process, which she did not believe there was, although acknowledged concerns around the IOPC investigation. She said this was a ‘separate matter’.
After the calls for a postponement were brushed aside by chair David Smith, the commissioner read from a script his reasons for recommending Watson.
He said together with deputy Simon Tuhill they would create a ‘formidable’ leadership team.
He said the investigation Nikki Watson was facing was ‘not criminal’ and said she was ‘confident the matter was without substance’.
The panel posed a number of questions to the candidate before going into a private session to make its decision.
When asked how she would deal with the challenge put to her by firefighters when she visited stations she said: “I am not a shrinking violet. I am happy to listen and I will explain.”
After the meeting Adam Watson from the FBU said the panel recommending the appointment of Nikki Watson while under investigation was a ‘farce’.
He said:
“If a Northamptonshire firefighter were under investigation they could not under the current policy be put forward for promotion, so how can it be that a chief fire officer is appointed while under investigation? It makes a mockery of the system. There is a clear disparity between how those at the top are treated compared to everyone else.”
Their decision will be officially announced in the next few days, however Cllr Wendy Randall called NN Journal after the meeting to inform us of the panel recommendation.
She said:
“Three of us voted against it and another abstained. The commissioner did not have to push to make the appointment now. He could have waited.”
Those who agreed with appointing Nikki Watson were Cllr Gill Mercer, Cllr David Smith, Cllr Fiona Baker, Cllr Dorothy Maxwell. Cllr Ken Pritchard did not attend.
How the appointment will now work is unclear. It may be that she can start in post without the investigation concluding if the commissioner decides. NN Journal will attempt to clarify the situation over the next few days.
Seems like the Chair is as weak as piss and firmly in the Mold camp. Clearly Andre has got his sights on the big job and is speaking very coherently and consistently, and will do his campaign no harm. The Chair and the panel know they should not appoint this person whilst under investigation, and it's predictable from Mold to saw she will be proved innocent, but a panel cannot rely upon his word. The panel should stand up and say no, no appointment until after the investigation, if Mold then appoints on his own then it further exposes him, so that tells you whose side the Chair is on. This panel should be independent of political influence or at least fairly balanced in terms of political colours. What may have once be known as a very British farce is now standard for a very Northamptonshire Tory farce....
What an absolute joke. Watching this live Mold can appoint who he likes with the toothless panel only able to frown and politely ask him not, something that they are apparently incapable of even trying to do, beyond a few words at the start. We all need to remember this come elections in May, this shower act like this so close to an election, showing they hold the voting public in contempt and will back up their colleague of the same party colour no matter what he does. Well done NN Journal for shining a light on this for any who did not get the chance to watch this