Series of failures when vetting sacked former chief constable of Northamptonshire Police, review finds

The police force has today (Tuesday August 6) published a full-scale review into the vetting processed for the most senior officers and staff after Mr Adderley was sacked following a gross misconduct hearing in June, sparked after he misrepresented his military career.

The seven page report looks into what pre-employment checks were carried out prior to Mr Adderley’s appointment to the job role in August 2018 and highlights a number of failings.

The failings include, the assumption that Mr Adderley had Management Vetting from his previous force (MV at force level), just because he had Developed Vetting (DV at national level). Northamptonshire Police failed to check this and did not carry out its own MV.

Furthermore, Mr Adderley submitted his MV and DV vetting renewal in 2023, while chief constable, and he gave different details on each. This was never picked up.

The report makes eight recommendations for improvement, including a tightening up and review of pre-employment qualification checks including providing degree certificates, a review of the retention period of application forms and pre-employment checks, subjecting all transferees to new vetting, dip sampling of vetting files and a requirement for detailed and comprehensive responses to HM Forces checks.

According to Northamptonshire Police, the force also intends to approach the Home Office to ensure enhanced information sharing and cross-checks takes place between the DV vetting carried out by the National Security Vetting Service and the MV vetting done at force level.

The police force also says within days of the misconduct hearing, acting chief constable Ivan Balhatchet carried out checks on the chief officer team and chief superintendent/staff equivalent ranks to ensure they all had the requisite qualifications and proof of them.

‘Dark chapter’

Mr Balhatchet said: “This has been a very dark chapter in the history of Northamptonshire Police, but I am absolutely determined to get right to the heart of all the issues which have surfaced since the original allegations were brought to the attention of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) a year ago.

“This report is difficult reading because there undoubtedly were very significant failings in the processes leading up to the appointment of Nick Adderley in 2018 and the handling of his vetting renewal in 2023.

"We are taking robust action to ensure this situation will never arise again and that officers and staff as well as the communities we serve across Northamptonshire, have the utmost confidence in our processes going forward.”

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Danielle Stone, added: “It’s disappointing that more thorough checks were not carried out when Nick Adderley was appointed. I’m pleased that the lessons have been learned, and processes and systems will be strengthened, and standards raised to give the public confidence in the recruitment of senior police officers.

“I’ve already begun conversations with the Home Office to highlight the gap between national and local systems and to explore what can be done.

“I’m grateful to the Acting Chief Constable Ivan Balhatchet for this clear and thorough review, produced and published so quickly. Transparency and integrity must be at the heart of everything we do.”

Read the full vetting report here.