Deputy Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Mark Kingscote has resigned only five months after Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez defied Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel to appoint him to the £58,476 per annum post last July .
Alison Hernandez wrote to the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel yesterday to confirm that he resigned on 20 December. The panel, comprised of councillors from across the region, meets quarterly to “support and challenge” the commissioner.
At its July meeting it voted against the appointment of Mark Kingscote, who was elected to Torbay Council at the same time as the commissioner in 2011, agreeing that he did “not meet the minimum requirements of the post”.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner nevertheless announced the same day that Mark Kingscote had been appointed as Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for twelve months on a part-time basis.
Mark Kingscote and Alison Hernandez. Photo: Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Mark Kingscote and Alison Hernandez served four-year terms as Conservative ward councillors in Shiphay-with-The Willows. He was re-elected in 2015, when Alison Hernandez became chief of staff for newly-elected Torbay MP Kevin Foster.
He then took part in her campaign to become Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner in 2016, before losing his Torbay Council seat in 2019 following ward changes. He also campaigned for her re-election as commissioner last year.
At the time of his appointment as her deputy Alison Hernandez said she needed help with overseeing Devon & Cornwall Police because of its poor performance and temporary leadership arrangements that were a result of the suspension of Chief Constable Will Kerr in July 2023.
Will Kerr’s replacement, Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell, was then suspended last November and replaced by interim Devon & Cornwall Police Chief Constable James Vaughan in December, the force’s third chief constable in eighteen months.
Both Will Kerr and Jim Colwell continue to receive a salary while investigations continue, leaving Devon & Cornwall Police paying for three chief constables at once.
In July last year His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services said it had “serious concerns” over investigations management at Devon and Cornwall Police.
The inspectorate said that the force was underperforming in half of the areas it assessed, despite improvements made since its 2021 and 2022 inspections, the findings of which led to the force being moved into enhanced monitoring in October 2022.
The inspectorate closed one of three “causes of concern” raised last year after the force improved its 101 call-handling, but said its crime recording and investigations standards both still required improvement.
