Introducing our new four recruits – the quartet who will be helping scrutinise and examine police and the fire service in Staffordshire.
The Ethics, Transparency and Audit Panel (ETAP) was launched by the Staffordshire Commissioner Police, Fire and Rescue and Crime, Matthew Ellis, with the aim of being the most open, transparent and independent means of scrutinising the county’s police.
Following the recent recruitment drive, four successful applicants have been selected to form part of the new-look ETAP and were recently invited in to meet the Staffordshire Commissioner.
The four new members are: John Wheatley, Jane Hackett, Craig Brown and Alan McEntire.
· John is 63-years-old and lives in Tamworth. He is a qualified chartered certified account, having recently retired from Tamworth Borough Council where he held the post of chief finance officer and Section 151 officer. John had worked for the council for 41 years. During his time he had direct line management duties for a variety of services including accounts, ICT, internal audit, council tax, housing benefit and legal services.
· Jane, aged 60, also comes from Tamworth. Now retired, Jane was the solicitor and monitoring officer for Tamworth Borough Council. Her directorate at the council included legal, domestic services and election services. Jane was also the RIPA co-ordinator and safeguarding officer. In her spare time she is a member of the parish council and a member of UCM, which supports local charities including Homestart.
· Rugeley-based Craig is 30-years-old and employed by South Staffs Water as a cost and performance analyst. Craig attained a first class honours degree in Business and Management at De Montfort University.
· Alan, a retired fire officer, is now the joint owner of Stafford-based SEL Group – providing consultancy and training in a range of services, including fire and event safety to automotive, aerospace, health care, education and commercial sectors. He has worked on a number of large events including the 2012 Olympics and the V Festival. Away from work, Alan volunteers for Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and is a member of the Staffordshire Search and Rescue team.
ETAP sit as a panel and meet regularly to examine the work of the police and fire. The rigour and scrutiny previously brought by ETAP has received national recognition.
Mr Ellis said: ‘Honest and independent scrutiny by the public is crucial as we strive to set the bar higher in policing and fire. This is about being open and transparent so that public confidence improves throughout our services.
‘ETAP has used its wide-ranging and rigorous powers to scrutinise to make sure decisions made are correct and in the best interests of the public.
‘It was a pleasure to meet our new ETAP members. I wish them all the best in their new roles.’
Appointments are made for a minimum of two years with work on ETAP taking up to three days per month.
Keep an eye on our website https://staffordshire-pfcc.gov.uk for more news from the Staffordshire Commissioner.
