New Chief Constable will need to focus on officer morale

POLICE officer morale in South Yorkshire is the most important issue for new Chief Constable Stephen Watson – as far as Federated officers are concerned – as he starts his new job.

That’s the message from Neil Bowles, Chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, as Mr Watson comes over from Durham Constabulary to begin leading the force.

CC Dave Jones has returned to North Yorkshire Police.

Neil said: “As far as our members are concerned the most important item for the new Chief Constable to tackle is Officer morale.

“Whilst there is little he can do with regards pay and conditions, Mr Watson can certainly get to grips with amount of leave cancellations and embargoes that we have had to endure over the last two years.

“Connected to proper rest and relaxation obviously is health and wellbeing of all officers and staff. We must get the staff in the right places properly supported and not overworked.”

A secondment agreement South Yorkshire PCC Alan Billings and Chief Constable Mike Barton of Durham has enabled Mr Watson to assume command of South Yorkshire Police earlier than the expected.

A statement from Dr Billings’ office says: “Mr Watson will be based at South Yorkshire Police’s HQ in Sheffield from Monday 25 July and will lead the senior leadership group in starting to make fundamental change in the force.

“A further Temporary Assistant Chief Constable, Chris Rowley will join the senior leadership team on Monday from West Yorkshire to support chief officer resilience.”

Dr Billings added: “This move will enable South Yorkshire Police to immediately begin to take forward the recommendations from the recent peer review and to continue the work already started, under interim Chief Constable Jones, to restore public trust and confidence in the force.

“The last few months have been very turbulent for South Yorkshire Police and, whilst there has been considerable progress made, the force still has a long way to go to establish stability.

“Interim Chief Constable Watson will be responsible for leading the force forward through transformational change and will be working closely with our public, partners and staff, against a backdrop of continued budget pressures and scrutiny.”