Justice Secretary Jack Straw has announced he will be recommending to HM the Queen that Nicholas Hardwick is appointed to the post of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales.
Nicholas Hardwick, currently the Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, has been selected as the preferred candidate to succeed Dame Anne Owers DBE as HM Chief Inspector of Prisons.
The Justice Select Committee held a pre-appointment hearing to consider Mr Hardwick's suitability for the post and published their report on 18 March 2010, endorsing the appointment.
Mr Hardwick was identified following a rigorous and open selection process, that took into account the Commissioner for Public Appointment’s Code of Practice as best practice.
There is something not quite right about a political appointment who is the preferred choice of the Ministry of Justice, especially given that one of the roles of this political appointee is to investigate and monitor the MoJ.
His first task will be to ensure that gallons of whitewash are delivered to the offices of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons!
Damned right there's something not quite right. fifteen years ago, they'd not have got away with this sort of behaviour.
ReplyDeleteGamekeeper turned gamekeeper. Rigorous and open, they say about the selection/coronation process. But they don't say what the rigours were, nor what constitutes openness. The latest betrayal of social justice by the Straw Man.
ReplyDeleteChances of him surprising us?