Freedom of Information Request
Concerning the misconduct hearing recently held in respect of former Cleveland Police chief constable Mike Veale, could it be stated what the overall cost to the public purse amounted to?
Please provide a breakdown summarising the costs, including:
- The cost of room hire at the Leonardo Hotel, in Middlesbrough, where the hearing took place
- The cost of legal representation to represent the Cleveland PCC during the course of the hearing
- The cost relating to members of the independent panel hired to deliberate over the evidence and make recommendations in respect of Mr Veale’s conduct. This could include, for example, any accommodation/travel expenditure/budget for meals & drinks etc.
Please also detail how the costs were met, eg from the OPCC’s own budget or recovered from the Government.
Separately, please briefly state how many staff hours were committed to this process in terms of any administrative support that was provided.
Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner Response
I have responded to each question individually below:
- Concerning the misconduct hearing recently held in respect of former Cleveland Police chief constable Mike Veale, could it be stated what the overall cost to the public purse amounted to?
1.1 The cost of room hire at the Leonardo Hotel, in Middlesbrough, where the hearing took place
The net cost for room hire totalled £3,800. - The cost of legal representation to represent the Cleveland PCC during the course of the hearing
- The net cost of legal representation at the hearing totalled £22,716.22.
- 1.3 The cost relating to members of the independent panel hired to deliberate over the evidence and make recommendations in respect of Mr Veale’s conduct. This could include, for example, any accommodation/travel expenditure/budget for meals & drinks etc.
- The total costs of the independent panel appointed for the hearing was £5,538.44
- Please also detail how the costs were met, eg from the OPCC’s own budget or recovered from the Government.
Costs were met from the Police and Crime Commissioner budget. - Separately, please briefly state how many staff hours were committed to this process in terms of any administrative support that was provided.
It is difficult to confirm the exact number of administrative hours committed to support the process, however it is estimated approximately 94 hours of OPCC staff time was utilised to support hearing organisation, including seeking panel members, booking of suitable venue and bundling hearing papers.