BBC’s political reporter elects to join police commissioner’s team by Kate | Gloucester News Centre - http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk/
BBC Political reporter Chris Brierley is being lined-up to the new position of Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire.
It is hoped that Mr. Brierley, 36, who joined BBC Radio Gloucestershire in 2005 and has also worked for BBC 5Live, BBC West’s Politics Show and the corporation’s political unit in London, will help share Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Martin Surl’s burgeoning workload.
The proposal will go to the commissioner’s governance board and if approved, the appointment will be submitted for confirmation at the next meeting of the police and crime panel in September.
Mr. Brierley said, “It will be a wrench to the leave the BBC but I am very much looking forward to a new challenge and the next stage in my career.
“Police and crime commissioners are the first phase in decentralisation with their powers devolved by the Home Office. Having seen much of the good work that has already gone on in Gloucestershire under the umbrella of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), I am keen to play a part rather than just report on it”.
Mr. Brierley will represent the PCC in meetings and in public and act on his behalf as required by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, the legislation which created PCCs. He is expected to take up his new post after working his notice at the BBC.
Mr. Surl said, “I already have a talented team and I am delighted Chris has agreed to join us at a time when the Government has indicated it’s keenness to devolve even more powers to PCCs.
“Chris has just the right background and experience I was looking for in a deputy to support me in my important role of engaging with the public. He will fit in well as we continue to develop a strategy regarding policing, crime and victims of crime – and because he will represent me at meetings from time to time, it will enable me to concentrate more of my time on Gloucestershire”.
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