Chief constable quits on £90,000 pension... and five days later starts work for new police commissioners

  • Martin Baker, former chief constable of Dorset Police is a director in two companies consulting on crime and policing issues

By Ryan Kisiel for the Daily Mail

Published: 23:04, 6 November 2012 | Updated: 23:10, 6 November 2012


Double director: Ex-chief constable Martin Baker runs two consultancy companies which stands to profit from the commissioner elections

Double director: Ex-chief constable Martin Baker runs two consultancy companies which stands to profit from the commissioner elections

A former chief constable could make thousands of pounds from the taxpayer as a result of this month’s police elections.

Martin Baker suddenly resigned from his £141,000-a-year job as chief constable of Dorset Police, saying he felt ‘the time was right to hand over leadership’.

But only five days after leaving the force, he became a director of two consultancy companies that offer services to the new police and crime commissioners.

The candidates standing for the commissioner positions in 41 forces in England and Wales on November 15 are mainly made up of local politicians with little law enforcement experience.

This has left an opportunity for former senior policemen to give them advice and administrative help when they are appointed, at a huge potential cost to the taxpayer.

Mr Baker, 56, registered as a director of both One Team Policing and One Team Advisory on October 5. The name is similar to the motto he helped choose for Dorset Police: ‘One Team, One Vision.’

He officially finished his job with Dorset Police on September 30. Last year he received a bonus of £13,000, and he is entitled to a pension worth two thirds of his final salary or around £90,000 a year.

The website for both companies state that its professionals provide specialist advice on ‘all aspects of law enforcement, criminal justice and community safety’.

Mr Baker joined One Team Policing with two of his former colleagues from Dorset Police. It was set up by former assistant chief constable Mike Glanville and former chief superintendent Gill Donnell in March.

Miss Donnell lives with Dorset Police’s director of human resources Graham Smith. Mr Baker and Mr Glanville are the only directors of One Team Advisory, which offers similar services.

Under the banner ‘Voice of the people’, One Team Policing’s website states: ‘We are offering prospective candidates a range of free to use and paid services to support them in advance of the elections including a range of on-line campaign services.

‘We will also be able to provide a range of specialist services to elected commissioners once they take up office.’

Consultant: The website for consultancy firm One Team Policing where Martin Baker is a director alongside former colleague andm ex-assistant chief constable at the Dorset Police, Mike Glanville

Consultant: The website for consultancy firm One Team Policing where Martin Baker is a director alongside former colleague and ex-assistant chief constable at the Dorset Police, Mike Glanville

As it is a new company, the amount of money it has received has not yet been recorded publicly.

But it has been reported that the company has offered commissioner candidates a ‘Standard Web Presence’ for £359 and a ‘Premium Web Presence’ for £1,799.

Among the advice it offers are tips on ‘strategic leadership’, ‘cost reduction’ and ‘working with the media’.

Police and crime commissioners will not run forces directly but will be responsible for appointing their chief constable, setting out local policing priorities, reporting annually on progress, and setting out the force budget.

They will be paid between £65,000 to £100,000-a-year and candidates mainly include local politicians rather than the Government’s hope of former police chiefs.

Patrick Mercer, chairman of the parliamentary sub-committee on counter-terrorism, said: ‘Unfortunately the money that the police authorities have to disperse will make these consultancy roles increasingly attractive to senior officers who are keen to retire and enter private business.’

Miss Donnell said: ‘We are delighted that Martin Baker has been able to join us at One Team Policing. His extensive experience in policing will be a real asset to our customers.’

Will Anyone Even Bother To Vote

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I'm angry that we are expected to vote for these impoirtant and well-paid positions on the basis of the meagre amount of information I've been able to find online. For instance, one of the three candidates in my police force area, looks rather old to be taking on such a job. Age obviously isn't the main criteria but it is not comp0-letely irrelevant and would be something else to take into account in making a decision.

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As an ex frontline police officer (retired), the standard joke regarding the headquarters flyers was that the rules restricted them from reading the newspapers in the morning as they would have nothing to do in the afternoon! They were, and are, an absolute joke, with little experience in policing and even less experience in managing the operational officers. They attended the police college purely to learn the latest 'buzzwords' so they could feel at home in the officer's mess. They generally screwed up and were promoted out of trouble, away from having to make a decision, six months in each department on the way up to gain 'experience' for their c.v's. The police 'force' (service) is an embarrassment to this country and I'm ashamed to be associated with it, all due to the laughable 'leadership' endured by the front line staff who want nothing more than to catch burglars and thieves, well, at least in my day!

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It really is time to put a stop to nonsense like this. How many more 'has-beens' are going to be allowed to draw their pensions and waltz into tax-payer funded jobs? (I'm an ex-civil servant. And I have my pension. But it gets up my nose when I see things like this.)

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I notice this story brings out the usual trolls who demand he loose the pension he is entitled to because he has been paying into the scheme

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Headline should have read - Another Public Service Employee retires with gold plated trough! - Terence Allan, Warkworth Northumberland UK, 7/11/2012 14:44 He is getting the pension he has paid into since he joined the police force - or would you like someone to arbitrarily say you aren't entitled to your pension?

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We know we have an election coming - to date we have received no information on the names of who are standing or what they stand for. Not surprising then that we are unlikely to vote as we don't have any information to make an informed choice on who to vote for. Total shambles.

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Don't pay him a penny of tax payers money let him offer his so called consulting for free!

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I don't know this man, but a number of people I know in similar ranks would be absolutely unable to offer any advice on practical policing or anything else apart from negotiating the fast track. The essential quality for success as a 'flyer' was to avoid any form of hands on policing at all costs.

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This within weeks of complaints that senior military officers, after retirement, have been acting on behalf of defence companies. No doubt, MPs will complain while, at the same time, sitting on the boards of large companies, many of which win government contracts.

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The Pension contributions of 11 or 14% (depending when you were in service) relate to Federated Ranks, and this does not include those of ACPO rank, what their contributions are if any, remains a mystery! After all once in ACPO they are not Policemen they are Politicians in Uniform.

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