Stockton South MP James Wharton today met with Theresa May, the Home Secretary, to discuss the ongoing investigation into Cleveland Police.
Mr Wharton arranged the meeting to discuss funding and the continuing role of Chief Constable Bristow, the Warwickshire Chief Officer who is heading up the investigation but is soon to leave the police and head up the new National Crime Agency. This would mean he could not remain in charge of the investigation in Cleveland potentially causing disruption and delay.
On funding Mr Wharton wrote to Mrs May in late September asking for access to a special contingency fund to help Cleveland Police cover the spiralling costs of the investigation, which are over £700,000 to date.
Mr Wharton said:
“It was an open and useful discussion. There are certain criteria to fulfil before additional funding can be released and the Home Secretary has asked me to get a more detailed breakdown, which I will be asking Cleveland Police Authority to provide as soon as possible.”
“Once we have this information we can look in detail at what the options are, I will be doing all I can to ensure front line services across the Cleveland Police area do not suffer because of the cost of this investigation.”
“I will be doing what I can to stand up for local services and our local Police officers in Cleveland; they do an excellent job and we must not allow these problems at the top of Cleveland Police to impact on the work done by hundreds of hard working officers in our communities every day.”
On the issue of CC Bristow:
“I expressed concern that CC Bristow’s appointment to head up the National Crime Agency would mean he cannot continue to lead the investigation in Cleveland. This would mean someone new taking over and potentially increase cost and delay as another Chief Constable gets to grips with the job.”
“The Home Secretary indicated that she would look at whether CC Bristow could stay as an advisor, allowing the investigation to carry on smoothly and be completed as soon as possible. I know this would be a welcome development, we all want this to be resolved.”