Appointment Process
This describes how the 9 Councillor members and the 8 Independent Members of NYPA are appointed.
9 councillors
7 councillors from North Yorkshire County Council and 2 councillors from the City of York Council are appointed to the Police Authority by a Joint Committee of the 2 councils. The Joint Committee is obliged to make appointments to the 9 councillor places on NYPA which reflect the balance of the total council seats held by the political parties across the 2 council areas.
Currently, this political balance is
Con 4 Lab 2 Lib Dem 2 Ind 1
The term of office of these councillors to serve on the Authority is 2 years or such lesser term as is determined by the Joint Committee. There is currently no limit on the number of terms of office that a councillor can serve.
8 Independent Members (of which at least 1 must be a serving Magistrate)
These members, drawn from the general population of the area of the Authority, are appointed through the following procedure:-
The initial stages of the process are undertaken by an Independent Member Selection Panel (as set out in statute) comprising
- Two appointed by the Authority
- One appointed by the Authority from a list prepared by the Secretary of State (who shall be the panel chair).
The role of the Panel is to
- Determine skills and communities under represented on the police authority
- Prioritise the key requirements of the vacancies
- Attract as wide a range of candidates as possible
- Determine publicity and target appropriately
- Determine the application pack and information to be provided to candidates
- Assess candidates - including recommended initial paper sift against key competencies and interviews
- Select and prioritise a short list for submission to the police authority.
The Panel produces, through a mixture of application form assessment and interview, a shortlist of suitable candidates which shall by law contain twice as many number of names as there are vacancies.
The Authority then appoints to the vacancies after further interview. For NYPA, the power to interview Independent Members is delegated to the Police Authority Management Board and a recommendation is submitted to the Authority.
The term of office of Independent Members is 4 years. An Independent Member can serve no more than 2 terms, unless there are exceptional circumstances approved by the Home Secretary, and certainly no more than 3 terms.
