It's that time of year again and the Authority will be touring the county throughout July and August to talk to the public about their policing priorities. We will be visiting town centre shopping centres from Sainsburys through to Bluewater.
I really do enjoy the roadshows as I think there is nothing better than the good old fashion face-to-face communication. We live in a digital age but by going out into the community we can talk to the local people who we might potentially miss online.
This year is slightly different as I think it's important that we do talk to the public about the changes ahead in terms of governance. So Authority staff and Members will be raising awareness of the new role of Kent's Police and Crime Commissioner and explaining what this will mean to them.
This week we also have our Full Authority meeting with senior staff from Kent Police. It will be quite sad as I will be saying goodbye to one of our Member's Steve Salt who has decided to stand down from the Authority after seven years.
Steve's dedication and commitment is second to none and he has become a good friend of mine. He has been instrumental in representing policing in East Kent and in our finance work, including the police council tax and the challenges we faced around the cuts. A banker by trade he has brought real skills and experience. He will be missed.
I'm still catching up from being on holiday. I'm currently busy preparing for the next Police Negotiating Board on Winsor Part 2 that looks at police pay and conditions. The next official meeting is in July in Cardiff which is going to be a long trek, especially on a Sunday evening with a reduced train timetable. We were originally meant to meet in London but due to the Olympics the venue was changed!