Embattled Police and Crime
Commissioner Ann Barnes is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on
staff and personal advertising campaigns – despite describing her job as
a ‘wilful waste of public money’.
A week after being humiliated following the resignation of Paris Brown, her £15,000-a-year youth crime tsar, who posted a series of racist and foul-mouthed Twitter rants, a Mail on Sunday investigation can reveal that Mrs Barnes is using a further £90,000 of taxpayer funds to hire a chief of staff.
The development comes just months after the 67-year-old recruited two special advisers on £5,900-a-month salaries, as well as paying a former Police Authority colleague £300 a day to advise her.
She has spent a further £15,000
on a battle bus which she has dubbed ‘Ann Force One’. Her 30-page
budget plan includes 16 photos of herself.
Mrs Barnes, who from June 2005 served as chairman of the Kent Police Authority, the precursor organisation to the office of Police and Crime Commissioner, was paid £20,000 a year and claimed about £4,000 in expenses in her old role. But she enjoyed a £65,000 pay rise after taking on her new position last November, despite being elected by just one in ten local people on a turnout of 16 per cent.
Within weeks of starting the job she was forced to defend her decision not to advertise for new staff and instead make her own swift appointments, saying: ‘This is not about appointing friends but those with new and different skills.’
Mrs Barnes was facing further calls to quit last night amid claims that she had lost the confidence of the electorate and frontline officers. The former magistrate, who has also been deputy chairman of the National Association of Police Authorities and advised the Home Secretary on the appointment of senior officers, previously said the role of PCCs were ‘unnecessary’.
Before performing a U-turn and deciding to stand for election last year, she said: ‘They will have no different or additional powers from the current police authorities and are a wilful waste of public money.’
Last
night a Facebook page used by frontline officers was filled with
outraged comments. One post on the Kent Police Federation Facebook page
read: ‘Utterly incredible. I never thought that such a huge gravy train
would follow with all that officers are struggling with. How on earth is
this equitable and fair?’
The Mail on Sunday revealed last week how 17-year-old Paris Brown, the latest recruit to Mrs Barnes’s staff, was behind a series of foul-mouthed, racist and obscene rants posted on Twitter.
The teenager, who beat 164 other applicants for the role of Britain’s first Youth Police and Crime Commissioner, was forced to quit her taxpayer-funded post within a week following the decision by Kent Police to investigate her over possible hate crimes.
The scandal has not deterred other PCCs from considering youth advisers. Sue Mountstevens in Avon and Somerset has advertised for a ‘youth champion and health and wellbeing officer’ who will be paid up to £40,000 a year.
Matthew Grove, the Conservative PCC for Humberside, said last week he wanted to appoint four unpaid ‘youth ambassadors’.
Mrs Barnes chose to stand by Miss Brown despite evidence showing that Miss Brown railed against gay people, immigrants and travellers, while also glorifying drug-taking and violence.
All the offensive Twitter posts were made in the six months leading up to her appointment.
Despite employing three communications officers – including one in charge of digital communications – Mrs Barnes admitted that none of her staff thought to ask Miss Brown whether she had a profile on any social media websites or had said anything that could embarrass the force.
Elsewhere, a rising chorus of voices called on Mrs Barnes to quit. Louise Mensch, the former Tory MP, wrote on Twitter: ‘Barnes must go. Ann Barnes showed total immaturity by appointing a 17-year-old to a serious job and not checking her social media. First thing you check.’
Barrister and former Conservative MP Jerry Hayes said: ‘She just showed a total lack of judgment, which is rather worrying given she’s in charge of governing the police. She’s very much on probation.’
Last night Mrs Barnes, who has lived in Lyminge, near Folkestone, Kent, for more than 30 years with her husband Tony, a vet, remained defiant and said she would keep to her manifesto pledge and appoint another youth PCC.
However, the role is to come under further scrutiny after it emerged that Kent Police already has a focus group of 11 to 16-year-olds available for gathering opinions that affect young people in the county.
In a statement to The Mail on Sunday Mrs Barnes, a former teacher from Merseyside, admitted that she had no idea how much taxpayers’ money had been spent on her disastrous bid to employ a youth tsar.
She said: ‘I will publish the estimated cost when my staff have researched the figures.’
A week after being humiliated following the resignation of Paris Brown, her £15,000-a-year youth crime tsar, who posted a series of racist and foul-mouthed Twitter rants, a Mail on Sunday investigation can reveal that Mrs Barnes is using a further £90,000 of taxpayer funds to hire a chief of staff.
The development comes just months after the 67-year-old recruited two special advisers on £5,900-a-month salaries, as well as paying a former Police Authority colleague £300 a day to advise her.
More trouble ahead: Ann Barnes is facing calls to quit after losing the confidence of her officers
Mrs Barnes, who from June 2005 served as chairman of the Kent Police Authority, the precursor organisation to the office of Police and Crime Commissioner, was paid £20,000 a year and claimed about £4,000 in expenses in her old role. But she enjoyed a £65,000 pay rise after taking on her new position last November, despite being elected by just one in ten local people on a turnout of 16 per cent.
Within weeks of starting the job she was forced to defend her decision not to advertise for new staff and instead make her own swift appointments, saying: ‘This is not about appointing friends but those with new and different skills.’
Mrs Barnes was facing further calls to quit last night amid claims that she had lost the confidence of the electorate and frontline officers. The former magistrate, who has also been deputy chairman of the National Association of Police Authorities and advised the Home Secretary on the appointment of senior officers, previously said the role of PCCs were ‘unnecessary’.
Before performing a U-turn and deciding to stand for election last year, she said: ‘They will have no different or additional powers from the current police authorities and are a wilful waste of public money.’
Resignation: Paris Brown, 17, pictured with Kent Police and Crime
Commissioner Ann Barnes tells a press conference she is not taking
up her £15,000-a-year role
The Mail on Sunday revealed last week how 17-year-old Paris Brown, the latest recruit to Mrs Barnes’s staff, was behind a series of foul-mouthed, racist and obscene rants posted on Twitter.
The teenager, who beat 164 other applicants for the role of Britain’s first Youth Police and Crime Commissioner, was forced to quit her taxpayer-funded post within a week following the decision by Kent Police to investigate her over possible hate crimes.
The scandal has not deterred other PCCs from considering youth advisers. Sue Mountstevens in Avon and Somerset has advertised for a ‘youth champion and health and wellbeing officer’ who will be paid up to £40,000 a year.
Contrite: Paris Brown, 17, said she was 'truly
sorry for any offence' after Tweeting about her sex life, drinking
binges and drugs
Mrs Barnes chose to stand by Miss Brown despite evidence showing that Miss Brown railed against gay people, immigrants and travellers, while also glorifying drug-taking and violence.
All the offensive Twitter posts were made in the six months leading up to her appointment.
Despite employing three communications officers – including one in charge of digital communications – Mrs Barnes admitted that none of her staff thought to ask Miss Brown whether she had a profile on any social media websites or had said anything that could embarrass the force.
Elsewhere, a rising chorus of voices called on Mrs Barnes to quit. Louise Mensch, the former Tory MP, wrote on Twitter: ‘Barnes must go. Ann Barnes showed total immaturity by appointing a 17-year-old to a serious job and not checking her social media. First thing you check.’
Barrister and former Conservative MP Jerry Hayes said: ‘She just showed a total lack of judgment, which is rather worrying given she’s in charge of governing the police. She’s very much on probation.’
Last night Mrs Barnes, who has lived in Lyminge, near Folkestone, Kent, for more than 30 years with her husband Tony, a vet, remained defiant and said she would keep to her manifesto pledge and appoint another youth PCC.
However, the role is to come under further scrutiny after it emerged that Kent Police already has a focus group of 11 to 16-year-olds available for gathering opinions that affect young people in the county.
In a statement to The Mail on Sunday Mrs Barnes, a former teacher from Merseyside, admitted that she had no idea how much taxpayers’ money had been spent on her disastrous bid to employ a youth tsar.
She said: ‘I will publish the estimated cost when my staff have researched the figures.’