Yard’s ‘poor judgement’ in hiring Neil Wallis
Professional boundaries were “blurred” when the Metropolitan police hired a former News of the World executive as their PR adviser, according to a report by the police watchdog.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission issued its findings into two separate Metropolitan Police investigations.
One focused on the hiring of Charmy Media, a firm set up by Mr Wallis to provide PR advice to the force, and the second looked into Assistant Commissioner John Yates’s alleged role in securing a job for Mr Wallis’s daughter, Amy.
The first investigation found that Scotland Yard made “imprudent decisions” in hiring Wallis, but ruled out corruption allegations in the decision to give him the job.
Deborah Glass, the IPCC Deputy Chair said: “It is clear to me that professional boundaries became blurred, imprudent decisions taken and poor judgment shown by senior police personnel.”
Fedorcio – ‘misconduct case to answer’
The report focused on the role played by Dick Fedorcio, the Met’s former communications chief, and found his actions questionable.
“In neither case did we find evidence of corruption, but in both cases we found that policies were breached, and in the case of the former Director of Public Affairs, Dick Fedorcio, that there was a case to answer in relation to misconduct.
It is clear to me that professional boundaries became blurred, imprudent decisions taken and poor judgment shown by senior police personnel. Deborah Glass, IPCC Deputy Chair
“We found that he employed Mr Wallis prior to a written contract being agreed thereby compromising the competitive process that should have been followed.
“Mr Fedorcio also failed to monitor the contract and to ensure Mr Wallis was appropriately vetted and he did not identify to the police authority the nature of Mr Wallis’ employment.”
The IPCC agreed with the Metropolitan Police Service to initiate proceedings for gross misconduct against Mr Fedorcio, but was unable to proceed after Mr Fedorcio resigned last month.
Ms Glass said: “The IPCC cannot prevent a member of police staff leaving before facing misconduct proceedings. But I can and do observe that such a practice can be hugely damaging to public confidence.”
Yates – ‘poor judgement’
The second investigation also found that were was no misconduct in Mr Yates’s decision to forward Amy Wallis’s CV to his HR team. However, it concluded that that Mr Yates showed “poor judgement” in forwarding the document, which meant staff felt obliged to find her a role with the Metropolitan Police Service.
“The investigation did conclude that he showed poor judgement in forwarding the CV, which in the words that accompanied it, added to the inference drawn by staff that they were expected to find Ms Wallis a job.
“The involvement of these two members of the MPS management board had the foreseeable consequence that human resources staff believed that they were obliged to find a post.”
But the two investigations showed “senior people appear to have been oblivious to the perception of conflict” amid the phone hacking scandal.
A Scotland Yard statement said the force accepted the IPCC’s findings:
“The report recommends that we review our practices in relation to senior staff who refer friends and relatives to our human resources department for appointment, attachment and holiday employment.
“The MPS has been the subject of much external scrutiny in recent months and the review recommended by the IPCC will form part of our wider response in taking forward the emerging issues and advice such as that from Elizabeth Filkin and the Leveson Inquiry.”
Responding to the IPCC’s findings on Mr Fedorcio, Scotland Yard said he had made a “very significant” contribution to the force.
They said: “Dick Fedorcio, the MPS Director of Public Affairs for the past 14 years, took the decision to leave on 31st March 2012.
“During that period he made a very significant contribution to the work of the MPS.
“In common with other employees MPS police staff have the right to resign, upon giving notice in accordance with their contracts of employment, whilst the subject of disciplinary investigation.”
Suspicion of phone hacking
Mr Wallis, whose company Chamy Media was paid a total of £24,000 by the Met, is still waiting to find out if he faces any charges under Operation Weeting’s phone-hacking probe.
He had offered his services as a PR consultant to the Met over lunch with Mr Fedorcio in August 2009.
Mr Yates and former Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson both resigned after facing questions about their links to Mr Wallis, who was arrested on suspicion of phone hacking last July.
Mr Yates was criticised for not reopening the phone hacking inquiry after the Guardian published a story in July 2009 revealing the illegal practice was far more widespread than previously believed.
