Clause 2
5:45 pm
Paul Holmes (Chesterfield, Liberal Democrat)
I have listened with great interest to the Minister. He has thrown more light on what I said earlier—I was not sure how having an SAP of 10, 15, 20 or however many people would solve the problem of the lack of people coming forward for positions such as chief constable. He referred to his background in education. I, too, was a teacher, and there was a much more decentralised system. All the way through schools, middle management were encouraged to develop people’s skills. The Government set up the National College for School Leadership in Nottingham, which was very effective, but things are more decentralised now. There are 3,000 secondary schools, whereas there are only 43 chief constables and police authorities, but to what extent is relying on one small panel of people, rather than embedding career development all the way through the system, the answer?