Police interim chief’s top priority is to ‘stabilise’ force with aim to appoint deputy

Gloucestershire’s new interim chief constable Maggie Blyth’s first task is to find and appoint a deputy as she seeks to stabilise the force following recent high profile suspensions.

Ms Blyth, 59, took up her new role last week and has been seconded to the constabulary from the College of Policing where she is deputy chief executive.

Her appointment follows the suspension of Chief Constable Rod Hansen and chief of staff Gary Thompson pending an inquiry by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

The force has also been without a deputy chief constable since the retirement of Shaun West in June this year.

And Ms Blyth will also be looking to appoint a chief of staff.

As the disciplinary investigations are expected to take a considerable amount of time, Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Nelson is looking to appoint a temporary chief constable to lead the force.

This will be done via a competitive recruitment process and Ms Blyth says she will be among those “throwing her hat in the ring”.

“I wanted to do the right thing for policing, which is to stand in for a force that had a particular need,” she said.

“I live in the vicinity of Gloucestershire and I was able to make it all work. My role and my background probably fitted well for Gloucestershire.”

She says she has been made very welcome at the constabulary. Having previously been assistant chief constable at Wiltshire Police, Ms Blyth says she knows a lot of officers and staff across the south west.

“That really helps,” she said. “I’ve been out and about meeting officers and staff.”

She has been really reassured that front line officers and staff are continuing with the job despite the recent turmoil at the top of the organisation.

“They’re continuing with the job that they do every day, responding to crime, investigating crime, ensuring that the communities here have the best possible service,” she said. “That’s all continuing very much as business as usual.

“Our performance here is good and we can continue to improve. With some of the financial decisions that we will make over the next few months, it’s right and proper that any organisation and police forces aren’t exempt from this look at efficiencies and effectiveness.”

She is confident her experience in Hampshire puts her in a great position to meet the challenges the constabulary is facing.

“Policing has been facing financial pressures for a number of years, a long time, and I think it’s interesting that Gloucester is perhaps slower down the line in facing some of the budgetary pressures that other forces are facing, “she said.

“So issues that I was dealing with five years ago in Hampshire are only now being dealt with in Gloucestershire now.” Ms Blyth said her top priority is stability in the force and continuing to provide the best possible service for the people of Gloucestershire.

“One of my first tasks is looking to appoint an interim deputy chief constable (DCC),” she said. “There are statutory reasons why having a DCC is important. So I’ve already gone out with that process, and we’re expecting it to conclude imminently and have an interim DCC in post.

She explained the process of appointing a temporary chief constable is a “fair and slower process”. “It was a very quick process to find an interim that could start immediately,” she said.

“The temporary process will start pretty much soon, in the next week or two and I will put my hat in the ring for that. But that temporary role will then be as long as the investigation into Chief Constable Hansen takes place.”

Asked if she would apply for the job should the opportunity to become the permanent chief constable arise, she said she would “have to wait and see what happens.” But reiterated her “absolute commitment to do the job and make sure that the people of Gloucestershire have got strong leadership at the top”.

Ms Blyth has more than 30 years’ experience as a dedicated public servant. She started in the probation service and then went on to specialise in youth justice, creating the first youth offending team in 1998 and taking a leadership role at the Youth Justice Board from 2000 to 2005.

From 2006 to 2016 she worked for local government child protection services, where she had senior oversight of child protection arrangements, and worked on a number of high profile child sexual exploitation and domestic homicide operations. After completing the College of Policing’s strategic command course, she was promoted to Assistant Chief Constable in May 2019, overseeing local policing and public protection across Hampshire.

In October 2021 she took up the role of National Police Lead for violence against women and girls (VAWG)at the National Police Chiefs’ Council where she was responsible for designing and delivering the first national police strategy for tackling VAWG. She also implemented the first national threat assessment and advising the Government on plans for a new national co-ordination centre for tackling VAWG. In November 2023, Maggie joined the College of Policing as its deputy Chief Executive.

Ms Blyth said ensuring the police and crime plan which has been set by the PCC is maintained and delivered with a strong focus on local policing, violence against women and girls and antisocial behaviour. “Those 20 per cent of crime in Gloucestershire will be domestic abuse, like most forces around the country,” she said.

“And that’s my background, public protection, of course I was looking at the financials, and obviously with what’s underway at the moment, I’m trying to look at it.

“We will need to keep an absolutely close eye and tight oversight of all areas of performance, there’s a very set inspection process in policing.

“So the control room is part of that, local policing is part of it, public protection is part of it.

“And it’s the job of any chief constable to balance the books accordingly across those different resource demands.

“And there’ll be a need all the time to keep reviewing where, where, staffing and where police officers are best placed to be moved around. And we’re waiting to hear what comes out of the budget.”

She said it is an extremely important time for policing and the force is keen to hear what the Autumn Statement will mean for their budget. “We know that the current government, the new government, is focused on local policing.

“It is focused on halving violence against women and girls. We know those are going to be priorities, but so will be policing productivity so we need to have a really good IT system, we need to be data driven in our approach.

“Police chiefs are hearing that the new government is very supportive of policing. What we also hear is there isn’t a great deal of money.

“So we’re waiting to hear what the budget announces like everybody else as to what that means in terms of real change in resourcing.

“My principles and my leadership are about ethical policing and legitimacy and trust and confidence.

“And I want the public to feel that they have the best in policing in Gloucestershire.”

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