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Police and Crime Commissioner took to social media to claim article was inaccurate.

Beds PCC Kathryn Holloway

 

A Police and Crime Commissioner has accused Police Oracle of relying on ‘hearsay’ in a report that quoted her directly.

Bedfordshire PCC Kathryn Holloway took exception to an article published by this website revealing the force’s HMI had been replaced.

Ms Holloway told a meeting of Bedfordshire Police and Crime panel on December 5 she was “hoping for a sea change” with former rear admiral Matt Parr temporarily stepping in at HMI Zoë Billingham’s request.

Both the PCC and Bedfordshire Chief Constable Jon Boutcher have previously been critical of HMICFRS’s assessments.

The police and crime panel meeting of December 5 is available to listen to via a local authority’s SoundCloud account: Bedfordshire Police and Crime Panel meeting.

Ms Holloway’s comments on the subject, as quoted accurately in Police Oracle, can be heard from 40 minutes 30 seconds.

However, on Friday the PCC took to Twitter to claim:

“Police Oracle - if you want to quote me please have the courtesy to contact me rather than report hearsay or attend the panel for accuracy.

“A Police and Crime Panel is open to the media and public. That is the venue to hear what the PCC has to say or ask for an interview.

“Have spoken to Police and Crime Panel Chair who expressed his horror at the inaccuracy of the Police Oracle report. It will be investigated.”

The chair Paul Cain added: “Very unhappy that Police Oracle have reported panel meeting so inaccurately.”

When an Oracle reporter asked him to outline the inaccuracies - he could not. 

However, as this article was uploaded, the PCC’s claims remained live on Twitter.

A Police Oracle reporter did contact the PCC’s office at the time of writing the initial article only to be told she was unavailable.

During the meeting, Ms Holloway told the police and crime panel: “The chief constable has also made a complaint, we now have the complaint being investigated.

“I can’t say anymore right now because these are matters of legal privilege but I fully intend to set all of the circumstances before you as a panel when I’m able to do so.

“We have a new HMI as a result, and at least in the interim while the independent investigation takes place HMI Billingham will no longer inspect Bedfordshire police.

“I have met with the HMI Matt Parr, as has the chief constable- [it was a ] very, very positive and constructive initial meeting.

“He is a former rear admiral so I’m hoping for a sea change.”

At the time a HMICFRS spokesman said: “Following representations made by the police and crime commissioner and chief constable of Bedfordshire, at HMI Zoë Billingham’s request, inspection responsibility for Bedfordshire Police has been temporarily assigned to HMI Matt Parr.

“HM Chief inspector of Constabulary Sir Thomas Winsor has appointed external legal counsel to assess the representations and report back to him.”

View On Police Oracle

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So the PCC accuses Police Oracle of reporting inaccurately despite them quoting her word by word, and despite the Oracle Editor posting the full audio, Katherine Holloway sticks by her remarks that they quoted her incorrectly. 

I for one cannot understand why politicians and truth don't go hand in hand.

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What a complete buffoon. I suppose every village needs one, or is that every police force...

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I bet she regrets Tweeting what she did, however she won’t back down because as a typical politician she loves lying.

Unbelievable how incompetent this woman is.

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Perhaps it says all about PCC's.

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If this was a police officer clearly maintaing a dishonest facade...

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Yes. It would be interesting if they were bound by code of ethics too.. They wouldn't last 5 minutes when it comes to honesty and integrity.

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Public meeting recordings cut after transparency-award winning PCC's complaint

Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Kathryn Holloway won an award for transparency in January.

Audio recordings of meetings intended to scrutinise a police and crime commissioner were suspended after Police Oracle used a clip to write a report, it has been confirmed. 

In December Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner Kathryn Holloway accused Police Oracle of relying on "hearsay" in a report that quoted her directly from a public meeting and an investigation was launched.

A spokesman for Ms Holloway said her investigation established the panel has been recorded only at Bedford Borough Hall and not at either of the other locations in which it takes place; Luton Town Hall or the Chicksands HQ of Central Bedfordshire Council.

He directed Police Oracle towards the Police and Crime Panel for comment but when asked by our reporter what the conclusion of their investigation was, chairman Paul Cain refused to comment.

In January Ms Holloway's office was given a CoPaCC award for transparency.

PCP meetings in Bedfordshire alternate between venues in Luton, Bedford and Central Bedfordshire as there are three unitary authorities in the county.

Police Oracle understands panel members were surprised to learn they were being “covertly recorded” during their meetings at Borough Hall in Bedford and as a result audio files are not being uploaded onto Bedford Borough Council’s website.

The two previous meetings hosted at Borough Hall, on August 15, 2017 and October 5, 2016 were recorded, as are the majority of Bedford Borough Council’s key meetings.

A spokeswoman for Bedford Borough Council said: "The matter of the recording of meetings is under review by the Panel, and will be the subject of further discussions by the Panel."

But she did not answer questions about why members believed they were being secretly recorded. 

A report compiled by Bedford Borough Council’s chief officer for democratic services Keith Simmons said the council has a policy and custom of audio recording public meetings transmitted directly from desktop microphones.

In his report he wrote: “The proposal to start recording public meetings of the Host Authority [Bedford] had the aim of improving the openness and transparency of the council and improving access to meetings for those unable to attend in person.

“There has generally been little public attendance at panel meetings however the audio recordings have received moderate public exposure.”

According to the report, the December 5 meeting - which Police Oracle embedded in an article - was the most popular audio recording in the last year with listeners from as far afield as USA, Ireland, France and Germany.

“Audio recording therefore enables a degree of public engagement that is not possible just through attendance at meetings. It is also arguable that video recordings would receive even greater exposure to the public,” Mr Simmons’ report added.

“It has been evident over recent months that there has been media attention on the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Panel. To move permanently towards a position of reduced transparency could be seen by the media as lacking confidence.”

Police and crime panels exist to scrutinise police and crime commissioners.

The Local Government Authority states in its good practice for police and crime panels manual as panels have no punitive powers to holds PCCs to account, they should instead focus on "effective public scrutiny of the impact PCCs are having…. Transparency plays a key role in panels’ approach to scrutiny.”

It points out increasing numbers of local authorities are using webcasting to “connect their meetings with the public” and names South Yorkshire, Cheshire, Sussex, Leicestershire, Surrey, Warwickshire and Staffordshire as good examples of panels which routinely webcast their meetings.

At least 23 out of the 43 police and crime panels upload audio recordings, videos or webcasts of their meetings.

When asked why the tweets were still active, a spokesman for Ms Holloway said: “Since the body of your own article made it clear, in quoting the Commissioner, that ‘We have a new HMI as a result and at least in the interim while the independent inspection takes place HMI Billingham will no longer inspect Bedfordshire Police’ the article was indeed inaccurate in terms of the headline which stated that ‘HMI Zoe Billingham will no longer inspect Bedfordshire Police’ as if this had been established as a permanent arrangement which was not - and is not - the case.”

At no point did the PCC claim Police Oracle's factual headline was inaccurate when she first made her complaint. It was only when it was established we had quoted her accurately that the headline was mentioned. Ms Billingham no longer inspects Bedfordshire Police with HMI Matt Parr currently doing so.

Yet Ms Holloway has already admitted the headline is accurate in a tweet posted on December 19 in which she falsely claimed Police Oracle changed the wording.

Police Oracle has not altered the article since it was originally published on December 12.

The issue of audio recordings will be discussed at the panel’s next meeting at Borough Hall on April 3. Police Oracle will be attending. 

Ms Holloway’s comments on the subject, as quoted accurately in Police Oracle, can be heard from 40 minutes 30 seconds.

In December, she took to Twitter to claim: “Police Oracle - if you want to quote me please have the courtesy to contact me rather than report hearsay or attend the panel for accuracy.

“A Police and Crime Panel is open to the media and public. That is the venue to hear what the PCC has to say or ask for an interview.

“Have spoken to Police and Crime Panel Chair who expressed his horror at the inaccuracy of the Police Oracle report. It will be investigated.”

The chairman Paul Cain added: “Very unhappy that Police Oracle have reported panel meeting so inaccurately.”

When an Oracle reporter asked him to outline the inaccuracies - he could not. 

Chairman and manufacturing consultant Mr Cain said he would investigate if its members are flagging up statements made by Kathryn Holloway in order to embarrass her.

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