ABOUT US
North Yorkshire Police Authority is the local authority with accountability for the policing service. It operates in a similar way to a local authority or council and is independent of the Chief Constable. The Authority is made up of 17 members, comprising 8 Independents (members of the public), 2 City of York Councillors and 7 North Yorkshire County Councillors. For more details of the members of NYPA and how they are appointed, please visit the MEMBERS INFORMATION part of our web site.
Whilst the Chief Constable has independence from the police authority for operational policing decisions, the Authority is responsible for ensuring that resources used in the delivery of the service are used efficiently and effectively and that the Chief Constable is accountable to the Authority for how he delivers policing. The Authority sets the strategic direction of the service and sets performance targets for the service to achieve after listening to local people about their views of the police. The Authority also sets the police budget (and raises a precept on local council taxpayers) and appoints and where necessary removes, the Chief Constable and the senior managers of the Force.
The balance of power and decision making between the Authority, the Chief Constable and also the Home Secretary is called the 'tripartite' system of governance which is unique to the British Police Service.
SUPPORTING THE AUTHORITYare 6 staff, including the Chief Executive to the Police Authority. The unit carries out the day-to-day business of the Authority as well as providing support to members, and administering requirements of the Police Authority such as the Independent Custody Visiting Scheme, recruitment of Chief Police Officers and meetings of the Authority. The unit is based at Barker Business Park, near Ripon. In addition, Joanna Carter, Chief Finance Officer, fulfills a dual role for both North Yorkshire Police Authority, as Treasurer and for North Yorkshire Police, as Director of Finance. Joanna is based at Police Headquarters.
The Authority as a whole meets five times a year to consider and carry out formal business, although the bulk of its formal business is conducted through Boards, or Committees. Its Annual General Meeting is in June, during which the Authority members elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman. All the meetings where NYPA carry out formal business are open to the public and we encourage members of our community to attend. The dates of meetings are published well in advance and papers for any of the Authority's meetings are available for members of the public a week before a meeting takes place. In accordance with the law, the Authority is able to exclude certain business items from the public. However, this is only used on rare occasions so that we make our decision making process as open and transparent as possible to the communities of North Yorkshire and the City of York.
Further details of the decision making structure of the Authority can be found at the MAKING DECISIONS part of this site. Throughout this site, further specific details are given of how the Authority does its work and how it is accountable to local people for the police service. Please do visit the various pages to get a fuller understanding of us or, if you have any questions or require any further information, please contact us using the 'Contact Us' facility on our HOMEpage.
