Next Thursday (15th November) is the first ever elections across the country for Police and Crime Commissioner’s (PCC’s). Their purpose will be to represent each county. According to the Home Office the aims of the PCC’s are to ‘ensure the policing needs of their communities are met as effectively as possible, bringing communities closer to the police, building confidence in the system and restoring trust.’ More about the role of the PCC.
Dorset Eye contacted the four candidates who have put themselves forward to represent Dorset. They are Andy Canning (Liberal Democrat); Nick King (Conservative); Rachel Rogers (Labour) and Martyn Underhill (Independent). They have all agreed to be interviewed by each other.
We wanted to use a much more innovative approach than is the norm because we believe that it would enable the candidates to propose their own questions and therefore to be more proactive in the interview process and also to be a much more interesting perspective for the reader. Each candidate was allowed 5 questions.
The interviews will be published, individually, from today until Monday 12th November (exclusive of Sunday). They will then be published together on Wednesday 14th November – the day before the election.
They are in alphabetical order and begin today with Andy Canning being interviewed by Martyn Underhill.
MU. What will you set out to achieve in your first 100 days?
AC. The single most important task must be the appointment of the new Chief Constable and I will commit to making this my major priority in the first 100 days. After that comes the process of re-prioritising the non-police budget and re-directing local partnerships to reflect my priorities of working to stop young people getting involved in crime in the first place and stopping first-time offenders becoming life-long criminals together with the start of the process of writing the Police Plan for Dorset including a huge amount of consultation with community groups and individuals. The first 100 days is too much of an artificial target to really matter to me – what is crucial is setting the groundwork so that everything is right over the next three and a half years.
MU. How will you judge commissioning services a success, in other words, how will you decide what to commission, and to who?
AC. Much of my commissioning will be governed by the clear priorities I’ve set out in this campaign but it will be heavily influenced by the public consultation that I will undertake. The judgement as to whether these decisions are a success will be met by a combination of whether the attitudes of the public towards these services has changed and whether they have achieved more specific targets that I will set each organisation.
MU. How will you engage with so many people in the community, 750,000
people is a daunting prospect!
AC. Clearly the internet and social media will have to play a major part in any efforts to engage with so many people. But I also believe that face to face discussions are vital. If elected I will commit to one public meeting per week for the whole of my term in office and I will hold these meetings in every part of Dorset.
MU. You are very youth focused, how will you engage the third of people in Dorset who are elderly and may not have access to the internet?
AC. I am very focused on crime prevention. I believe that is in everybody’s interests and that is why I start with young people who are more likely to still be in a position to be influenced. As a Councillor for many years I am used to working with people of all generations, especially in Dorset where there are so many retired people. That is why I recognise the importance of face-to-face meetings although it is also the case that many elderly people are very familiar with the internet.
MU. What is your favourite hobby, and what is the most interesting thing about you that none of us know? (be creative, make it fun!)
AC. My main hobby is rambling. I particularly love walking the South West Coastal Path and have pretty much done it all except for Lands End. My favourite stretch of the whole coastline is around Purbeck.
Tomorrow, Nick King will be interviewed by Andy Canning.
