Governance – Police Digital Service

Articles of Association

The Police Digital Service Articles of Association set out governance arrangements to include a Board of Directors comprising of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), a representative of other policing governance bodies, a representative of the Police Technology Council, the Chairperson of the National Police Chiefs’ Council and a representative of the Home Office.

The Police Digital Service Board has been meeting at least quarterly to provide strategic direction and to review progress against our business plan, financial report, performance report and risk register. An opportunity to review the performance of the PDS and endorse the business plan and budget for the forthcoming year is provided at the Annual General Meeting.

Who’s on our Board?

The Police Digital Service Board consists of Police and Crime Commissioners, a representative from the “other policing governance bodies”, plus representatives from the National Police Technology Council, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the Home Office and the NPCC’s Digital, Data and Technology Coordinating Committee (DDaTCC).

In addition, the Police Digital Service regularly engages with members at the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners’ General Meetings and regional meetings which take place throughout the year, to ensure Members are informed of the work of the PDS and that this work is adding value.

Read the 2021-2022 PDS Annual Report

OUR BOARD

Click on each board member’s name and title below to view their biography.

Stephen Mold, Board Chair and Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire

Stephen was first elected Police and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire in May 2016 and in January 2019, he took over the governance of Northamptonshire Fire to become Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

Before becoming the Police and Crime Commissioner, Stephen worked for 20 years in leadership positions in the private sector in information technology and running a successful online business.

Stephen has a passion to ensure that both the fire and police service make the best use of new technology to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

Stephen is the Chair of the Police Digital Service, a member of the board of the College of Policing and serves on the board of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme. He is also the APCC Lead for Police Standards and Leadership and also the APCC Lead on Fire.

Ian Bell, Chief Executive Officer Police Digital Service

Ian has been a senior business and IT professional for 20 years, undertaking Chief Information Officer/Director of ICT/Head of IT roles.

He has a successful background with professional services, law enforcement, local authority, manufacturing and education.

Commercially aware and business-led, Ian has broad experience. He was Head of ICT at Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire Constabularies before becoming Director of the National Enabling Programme.

Taking a strategic approach to successful business change and IT leadership, Ian engages with business stakeholders at up to CEO level, delivering business-aligned technology and business process change via the appropriate application of transformed IT.

Ian become CEO of the then Police ICT Company in March 2018, which became the Police Digital Service (PDS) in April 2021.

Simon Bourne, Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer - Home Office

Simon joined the Home Office in September 2020 and is the Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer (CDDaTO). Prior to joining the Home Office, Simon spent six years as the Chief Information Officer for the Co-op Group. He has over 30 years of experience of digital and technology leadership roles, working in both financial services and retail sectors.

As the Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer (CDDaTO), Simon is accountable

for the delivery of digital, data and technology solutions that support the department’s current operations and future business transformation programmes. These cover both core Home Office operations as well as delivery of national law enforcement capabilities.

Simon gained a Masters in Mathematics from Cambridge University. He is married with two children and lives in West Yorkshire.

Jeff Cuthbert, Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent

Jeff was first elected to the post of Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent in May 2016 and was re-elected in 2021. He currently holds the Modern Slavery and Serious and Organised Crime portfolios for the Police and Crime Commissioners in Wales and is a member of the Welsh Government Leadership Group on Modern Slavery and People Trafficking. Jeff also leads on Roads Policing, Serious and Organised Crime and Local Policing for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners. Jeff is a Board member of the Police Digital Service.

Currently Jeff is Chair of “Policing in Wales” which is the body that brings together the four PCCs and Chief Constables in Wales. This enables Wales wide concerns and policies to be discussed and determined, thus allowing informed debate with the Welsh Government Ministers and senior Civil Servants through the Police Partnership Board for Wales. This Board enables planning and co-ordination between reserved and devolved services in Wales.

Prior to becoming Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, Jeff was a member of the National Assembly for Wales (now called Senedd Cymru). Jeff was first elected in 2003 as the Assembly Member for Caerphilly.

Before his appointment as the Deputy Minister for Skills in May 2011, Jeff served as the Chair of the All Wales Programme Monitoring Committee for the EU Structural Funds. He founded and chaired the Cross-Party Built Environment Group, the Cross-Party Healthy Living Group and the Cross-Party Diabetes Group. He was also a member of the Wales Branch Executive of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

Jeff chaired the Committee on Standards of Conduct and has been a member of the European and External Affairs Committee, the Enterprise and Learning Committee and the Public Accounts Committee.

In May 2013 Jeff was appointed as Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty. He held this post until September 2014 during which time he introduced the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Bill which was enacted in 2015.

Andrew Dunbobbin, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales

Andy Dunbobbin was elected the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales on 6 May 2021; he officially took office on 13 May 2021.

Mr Dunbobbin is from Connah’s Quay where he lives with his wife, son and daughter.

Mr Andy Dunbobbin is a County Councillor for Flintshire County Council for the Connah’s Quay Golftyn ward but will be stepping down in May 2022, he will continue to be a member of the Connah’s Quay Town Council.

Mr Andy Dunbobbin said that “winning the election was one of the proudest moments of my life. I am passionate about providing a public service and I vow to represent everyone in North Wales, regardless of their political affiliations”.

Chief Constable Jo Farrell, Durham Constabulary

Jo began her police career over 25 years ago in Cambridgeshire Constabulary. She transferred to Northumbria Police in 2001 where she progressed to the rank of Assistant Chief Constable. Jo joined Durham Constabulary in November 2016 as Deputy Chief Constable and has contributed to the force’s continued outstanding performance.

She was appointed Chief Constable of Durham in June 2019, becoming the first woman to hold the post in the force’s 180-year history.

On a national level, she works on behalf of the National Police Chiefs Council as the Chair of the Digital, Data and Technology Coordinating Committee (DDaTCC).

Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC)

Martin is Chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). He was appointed in April 2019.

He began his policing career with Kent Police in 993 and transferred to the Metropolitan Police Service in 2005.

As an Assistant Commissioner for five years, Martin led frontline and local policing, specialist crime and professional standards. He led the national police response to adult sexual offences and kidnap between 2014 and 2019 and served as a Vice-Chair for the NPCC from 2015 before taking on the chairmanship.

Dafydd Llwelyn, Police and Crime Commissioner for Dyfed-Powys

Dafydd is a former Principal Intelligence Analyst and worked within Police Intelligence for many years before, in 2014, moving to Aberystwyth University to lecture on Criminology. His career has provided him with considerable insight into core policing issues as well as an understanding of what the public want from the service.

Dafydds overarching vision for 2021-25 is to keep the communities of Mid and West Wales safe, Maintaining trust and confidence in our police and criminal justice system as a whole.

Dafydd is a fluent Welsh speaker, a family man with 5 children and enjoys all sports, but takes particular delight in following Wales’ football team home and abroad.

Bethan Page-Jones, Head of the National Police Capabilities Unit - Home Office

Bethan has spent over 15 years working in policing. As a career civil servant who has spanned spending reviews, bill management, strategy roles and private office work, she was seconded to the National Policing Improvement Agency where she headed up work on value for money in policing. Following that she spent many years in HMICFRS, inspecting police efficiency, police effectiveness and police response to domestic abuse, returning to the Home Office to work in policing policy. At the moment her role is focused on ensuring the Home Office is commissioning the capabilities needed to deliver its policing, public protection and crime reduction agenda.

Darryl Preston, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Darryl Preston was elected Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough on 6^th May 2021 and officially took post on 13^th May 2021.

Darryl has proudly served as both a front line police officer and a senior detective for 30 years (10 years in the Met and 20 years in Cambridgeshire).

After retiring from the force, he joined the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners as a senior official where he developed strategic positions and lobbied Government on topics such as serious violence, economic crime and sexual offences legislation.

Darryl’s knowledge, skills and experience will enable him to progress his Police and Crime Plan, through holding Cambridgeshire Constabulary to account for their performance. This includes bringing agencies together and listening to the views and concerns of the public and local communities.

Darren Scates, Chief Technology Officer for Metropolitan Police and Chair of the National Police Technology Council

Darren is Chair of the National Police Technology Council, a collaborative group comprising the technology leaders from across UK policing. He is also part of the leadership team of the Metropolitan Police Service and as CTO is personally responsible for digital and technology strategy, business engagement, innovation and architecture across the Met. He is responsible for the development and delivery of technology enabling digital policing across the UK’s largest police service (over 45,000 people).

Darren has over 20 years experience in government technology delivering front line operations and digital services in six different government organisations, three within the UK justice system. He has been responsible for the implementation of over 100,000 desktops, several award-winning public facing digital services, child safe-guarding, central government and of course the Metropolitan Police Service.

Andrew Snowden, Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire

Andrew Snowden was elected Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire in May 2021 with 181,314 votes – the largest number any candidate has ever received. He is responsible for setting policing priorities and budgets, holding the Constabulary to account for delivering against those priorities along with commissioning other services such as victims support. He has set out a clear over-riding aim: To get tough on crime in Lancashire.

Andrew was previously a Lancashire County Councillor and Lead Member for Highways and Transport 2017-2021, where he led the multi-million investment in new and improved bus routes across Lancashire, including securing significant additional government funding for Lancashire.

His professional career has spanned the public and private sectors – where he has held management and leadership roles in higher education and infrastructure services. Up until his election as PCC, Andrew was an Associate Director at the University of Salford, responsible for External Relations.

Andrew lives in Rossendale with his wife, Caroline, and their Norwegian Elkhound, Heidi. They enjoy long country walks – especially with a pub stop or two. Andrew and Caroline were married at Salmesbury Hall in 2014 and first lived together in Chorley, before moving to Rossendale – where Andrew’s family have lived since the mid 1800’s.

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd, Police Service of Northern Ireland

Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd has over 30 years’ policing experience and is responsible for the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Community Safety Development. Also UK National Lead for Police Contact Management, Alan is Chair of the national 999/112 Liaison Committee and a member of the board of directors of the Police Digital Service. Alan chairs the quarterly National Contact Management Steering Group which discusses 999 and 101 performance, shares examples of good practice from across UK policing in the area of contact management and call handling and has developed the Contact Management Strategy, Principles and Practice, Training and Accreditation.

Steve Turner, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland

Steve Turner took up office as Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Cleveland after election in May 2021.

He has lived in Cleveland with his family all his life. His understanding of the region, the community and its challenges is second to none.

As a young man, Steve took part in sport. He represented the area playing basketball at national level before “retiring” into the local rugby scene.

Steve is married with three grown-up sons. He is also a grandfather.

Before election as PCC, Steve worked as Chief of Staff to two local MPs. He worked alongside a team of people, who supported over 140,000 constituents.

His previous role allowed him to get involved in campaigns, about which local people felt strongly. The job also gave him first hand knowledge of the day-to-day issues residents face around crime in the Cleveland Police area.