Force publishes vetting review in the wake of sacking of former chief who lied in his application for the top job

A full-scale review into vetting processes for the most senior officers and staff has today (Tuesday, August 6) been published by Northamptonshire Police in the wake of the sacking of former Chief Constable Nick Adderley.

 

Mr Adderley was dismissed following a Gross Misconduct Hearing in June during which evidence was heard that he had perpetuated a false narrative around his military service, including allegations he had served in the Falklands when he was actually only 15 at the time of the conflict and failing to correct wholly inaccurate reporting of his service in the media.

 

The full extent of the deceit around his naval service was subsequently set out in a damning 43-page report at the beginning of last month and a case file focusing on the allegations has been passed on to the Crown Prosecution Service by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC).

 

Within days of the hearing, Acting Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet carried out checks on the Chief Officer team and Chief Superintendent/staff equivalent ranks to ensure they all had the requisite qualifications and proof of them.

 

He also commissioned today’s report designed to explore fully the failings around the vetting processes and pre-employment checks ahead of Mr Adderley’s appointment to the top job in August 2018.

 

Failures revealed included that when he joined, Mr Adderley had Developed Vetting – (DV, national level), but an assumption was made he therefore held Management Vetting, (MV Force level) from his previous Force. Northamptonshire Police failed to check this and did not carry out its own MV.

 

Equally concerning, the report reveals, was that when he submitted his MV and DV vetting renewal in 2023, while Chief Constable, he gave different details on each and this was never picked up.

 

The report goes on to make a number of recommendations, including a tightening up and review of pre-employment qualification checks, dip sampling of vetting files and a requirement for detailed and comprehensive responses to HM Forces checks.

 

The Force also intends to approach the Home Office to ensure enhanced information sharing and cross-checks takes place between the DV vetting carried out by the National Security Vetting Service and the MV vetting done at Force level.

 

Mr Balhatchet said: “This has been a very dark chapter in the history of Northamptonshire Police, but I am absolutely determined to get right to the heart of all the issues which have surfaced since the original allegations were brought to the attention of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) a year ago.

 

“This report is difficult reading because there undoubtedly were very significant failings in the processes leading up to the appointment of Nick Adderley in 2018 and the handling of his vetting renewal in 2023. 

 

“We are taking robust action to ensure this situation will never arise again and that officers and staff as well as the communities we serve across Northamptonshire, have the utmost confidence in our processes going forward.”

 

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Danielle Stone, said she fully supported the approach taken in the aftermath of the former Chief’s dismissal.

 

She said: “It’s disappointing that more thorough checks were not carried out when Nick Adderley was appointed.  I’m pleased that the lessons have been learned, and processes and systems will be strengthened, and standards raised to give the public confidence in the recruitment of senior police officers.

 

“I’ve already begun conversations with the Home Office to highlight the gap between national and local systems and to explore what can be done.

 

“I’m grateful to the Acting Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet for this clear and thorough review, produced and published so quickly. Transparency and integrity must be at the heart of everything we do.”

 

 

• Pre-employment checks were not carried to verify his degree, education, qualifications.   (they were not needed for the role). We are carrying out those checks in the future, regardless, if people claim to have a degree.

 

• When he joined, he had Developed Vetting – (national level).  We assumed this meant he also held MV (Management Vetting, Force level) from his previous Force. We did not check and further, we did not carry out our own MV.

 

• When he did MV in 2023 he gave different details to what he had given on his DV forms. A national lesson, we want the Home Office to consider some legal change to make DV and MV talk to each other seamlessly.

 

• When he did MV in 2023, he did not give the required details so that an HM Forces check could be carried out. We didn’t pick him up on that and we didn’t carry out the check on his claimed service.

 

• NSVS had no records of his DV.

 

• We were unable to check a lot of details around his application because we did not keep anyone’s forms beyond 12 months.

 

To read the full vetting report click here: Vetting Review (northants.police.uk)