Background Appointment of chief officers of police
53.The Independent Review of Police Officer Terms and Conditions carried out by Tom Winsor set out proposals for three direct entry schemes into the police. These were a fast track to inspector rank, direct entry at superintendent rank and, for those with equivalent experience from overseas, direct entry at chief constable rank.
54.In a Written Ministerial Statement on 27 March 2012 the Home Secretary welcomed these proposals seeing them as enabling policing to draw upon the best pool of talent available (House of Commons, Official Report, columns 126 WS to 128 WS). A public consultation was launched on 30 January 2013 on how to implement the direct entry schemes. The response to the consultation was published on 14 October 2013.(28) Section 140 of the Act makes the necessary amendments to the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (“the 2011 Act”) to facilitate direct entry at chief constable rank.