I went to the Kent County Show on Friday, with some trepidation as I had heard on the news that because of the bad weather the showground had been closed, however, they did let me in for which I'm very grateful as I do love to go.
It is great fun to see all that goes into making this such a success and what goes towards making Kent a great county. I particularly like seeing all the little ones enjoying themselves so much and having a really nice time this year plodding through puddles and mudding their wellies.
The day before the County Show I went to represent the Kent Police Authority at Mark Worrall's memorial service in Tonbridge. As you all know, Mark was the Leader of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, until he sadly died a few weeks ago. He was a really nice man, very committed to the work he did and much admired by all who knew him. That was obvious when you looked round the church, to see so many people there from so many different walks of life. He was a kind, compassionate, intelligent man, much loved and admired by his family and friends. It was an honour to be there to pay tribute to him.
Tomorrow sees me in London at the Home Office. First of all at the Senior Appointments Panel. Together with the Her Majesty Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), I look at the suitability of Chief Officers for various appointments and advise the Police Authorities accordingly. It's an interesting thing to be part of and I certainly get to know all the Chief Officers and would be Chief Officers in the Country. Then also at the Home Office, I will be attending the High Level Working Group which is chaired by the Policing Minister Nick Herbert. This is the group that looks at the big strategic policing issues of the day and it is an opportunity to really keep abreast of national developments and progress.
Wednesday is the Council meeting of the Association of Police Authorities (APA), where I'm the independent Deputy Chair and we are continuing to work together to look closely at transitional work of the Policing and Crime Commissioner in November. We are working very closely with the Home Office, Association of Chief Police Officers and other partners to make sure that the move from Police Authorities to Police and Crime Commissioners is as seamless as possible.
Thursday is a meeting of the South East Chairs and Chief Constables in Surrey, This will be our very last meeting together. So in a way it is quite sad but we have together found solutions over the years to many problems and issues that we all share in the South East region, so we leave a very positive legacy behind us.
Friday I'm back in the office in Maidstone, but I will miss the arrival of the Olympic Torch as 6:30am is a little too early for me to get into the office from Folkestone, but I hope to see the torch when it comes to Dover and that's the end of another full week for me.
Hopefully at the weekend I will be attending a friend's birthday party where they are hoping to have a BBQ in the garden, but I doubt that this will happen as the weather is more like the month of November than July.
Some friends of mine just got back from two weeks in Cornwall and they didn't have one full sunny day. Let's hope we get some sunshine soon.