DEVON and Cornwall’s police and crime commissioner will make a decision about the suspended chief constable this year, and in the meantime has recruited the former leader of London force as a strategic advisor.

Alison Hernandez says Lord (Bernard) Hogan-Howe, who was commissioner of the Metropolitan Police for six years until 2017, will work with Devon and Cornwall for a “short period of time” to sort out some of its challenges.

Ms Hernandez, who is also appointing a deputy on a salary of £59,000 to support her with her workload, told Devon and Cornwall’s Police and Crime Panel the force needs “someone substantive” to run it.

The service is currently led by Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell, while Chief Constable Will Kerr remains suspended. He has been accused of serious sexual offences and denies any wrongdoing.

Mr Kerr joined Devon and Cornwall in December 2022, and has continued to be paid his £170,000 a year salary since being removed from duty in July 2023 whilst investigations are ongoing.

Ms Hernandez told the panel she is waiting for the Public Prosecution Service of Northern Ireland, where Mr Kerr previously worked, to tell her if the case against him is being pursued.

She was responding to a question from Cllr Philip Hackett (Ind, Torridge, Broadheath) who asked why taxpayers are paying for someone who would be suspended for some considerable time.

The commissioner, who expressed her frustration over the “limbo” situation when she was re-elected for a third term in May, said: “The biggest thing that is within my power is to solve is the chief constable’s position and I will be making a decision at some point this year on that.

“We need someone substantive to be running the force at this stage.

“The nearest time I have for a next step is September which is when the Public Prosecution Service will speak to me.”

The recruitment of Lord Hogan-Howe follows a report published this month by the Inspectorate of Constabulary which rated the Devon and Cornwall force as requiring improvement or inadequate in half of the areas it examined.

Inspectors had concerns over the time it took to answer calls and respond to incidents, as well as the quality of investigations.

Ms Hernandez said the force was struggling on everything the public would expect to be “bread and butter.”

In common with half of the police and crime commissioners in the country, Ms Hernandez is appointing a deputy after admitting she needed help in overseeing the service.

She has chosen former Torbay Conservative councillor and mental health professional Mark Kingscote for the political role, despite the police and crime panel recommending against because he “did not meet the minimum requirement for the role”.

The deputy commissioner is a political role that doesn’t have to be advertised and is in Ms Hernandez’s gift.  It is separate from the police and crime commissioner’s chief executive officer, a £123,000-a-year role that is required by law.

Ms Hernandez said of Mr Kingscote that she had known him for 15 years, having worked and achieved a lot together as Conservative councillors in Torbay.

She said she needed someone who she could trust, shared the same views as her and that she “did not have to have oversight for every five minutes”.

Mr Kingscote had the drive and pace needed to get things done, she said.

The focus of his work would be trying to solve problems of anti-social behaviour, drug dealing and street homelessness, which is rife in Torbay.

Ms Hernandez said Torbay was “the poor relation” to other areas of Devon in terms of policing and good working relationships between the council and police.

The work in Torbay will be a blueprint for the rest of the force area.

By Alison Stephenson