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A police boss is celebrating after copping a hat-trick of awards for the open and transparent way he and his staff work.
The office of North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones has been given a Transparency Quality Mark by CoPaCC, an organisation that monitors police governance, for the third year running.
The accolade was given for making information accessible on his website so that members of the public can find out easily what he's doing
Mr Jones, a former police inspector, called for more openness and transparency in public life during the campaign that saw him elected in May 2016.
He said: "I believe passionately in the importance of being totally open about what I do so gaining this quality mark for the third year running means a great deal to me.
am particularly proud of this particular award because I believe passionately in the importance of being totally open about what I do.
In public life we are duty bound to be transparent about what we do and openness should be the norm and not the exception,
I hope that other public sector organisations follow suit because we are funded by taxpayers and they have an absolute right to know what we do and how we spend their money.
It is a question of accountability so we need to be totally up front about how we operate rather than hiding away behind legislation and exemptions to the Freedom of Information Act.
I must pay tribute to the staff in my office because they have worked extremely hard to ensure that we received this quality mark. I am very grateful to them.”
Executive Officer Meinir Mai Jones was equally pleased.
She said: “The Transparency Quality Mark is the gold standard in terms of being open and transparent, so we are all delighted and proud to receive it.
It was a real team effort. I put the submission together and control the website, but I can only do this with the work of others.
According to the judges we were completely compliant with and receiving the award for the second year in succession means we are consistently excellent in this regard, with no improvement required.
The Commissioner is an elected person and he is doing as much as he possibly can to make the public in North Wales aware of the work he is doing.”
Paul Grady, Head of Police for Grant Thornton who sponsor the scheme, said: “Transparency is an essential part of the democratic process.
For the public to be able gauge how successful their PCC is in delivering their electoral mandate, they need access to information that is accessible, easy to understand and fit for purpose.
Bernard Rix, CoPaCC Chief Executive,added: For my part, these OPCCs have all demonstrated that they are transparent in what they do, meeting relevant legal requirements.
They present key information in an accessible format on their websites. I congratulate them all on their award-winning work, and I look forward to what I trust will be continued excellent work by each and every one of them in this area.”