West Midlands' Police chief's 'retire and re-join' move defended

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The PCC said Craig Guildford retired on 15 November and plans to apply to take up his role again next month



A "retire and re-join" option taken by the West Midlands' most senior police officer has been defended by the region's police and crime commissioner (PCC)

Craig Guildford retired as West Midlands Police's chief constable on 15 November, but has applied to take up the role again on 16 December in order to protect his pension, PCC Simon Foster said.

Mr Guildford has taken part in the countrywide scheme to help long-serving officers to stop their pension starting to fall in value after they have accrued 30 years' service.

Mr Foster said he would prefer police pensions did not operate in this way, but it was “a national problem and not of anyone’s making in the West Midlands”.

The Retire and Re-join scheme allows any officer to resign and take a break of at least one month, before being reappointed at the same rank.

It has also been used by PCCs in other force areas including in Bedfordshire, Derbyshire and Sussex.

Mr Foster said the scheme helped police forces “to retain capable, committed, experienced and knowledgeable officers like Mr Guildford”.

He added that using it to keep Mr Guildford was in the West Midlands’ best interest.

Mr Foster has indicated his support for Mr Guildford's proposed re-appointment, but the process must be concluded at a hearing of the West Midlands Police and Crime Panel.

Deputy Chief Constable Scott Green is currently acting chief constable.

West Midlands Police, the second largest force in the country, was placed under enhanced monitoring last year but the measures were removed in September after the force was deemed to have made improvements.

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Chief constable's reappointment approved

The former chief constable of West Midlands Police will be reappointed to the role.

Craig Guildford stepped down on 15 November, but had applied to take up his former role again under the retire and-rejoin scheme, in order to protect his pension from diminishing in value.

The West Midlands Police and Crime Panel approved his reappointment at a hearing on Monday.

Mr Guildford will rejoin the force as chief constable on 16 December, following 31 days of retirement, the region's police and crime commissioner (PCC) confirmed.

In a statement, Mr Guildford said he remained fully committed to delivering "sustained performance improvements" at the force.

"I'm pleased that the police and crime commissioner and the region's Police and Crime Panel have offered me their full support and allowed me to continue to serve as your chief constable in the West Midlands," added Mr Guildford.

"My ambition is to see West Midlands Police continue to improve at the pace it has been."

The countrywide retire and re-join scheme allows any officer to resign and take a break of at least one month, before being reappointed at the same rank.

West Midlands PCC Simon Foster said he was pleased the panel had approved Mr Guildford's reappointment to the role and that the force had "improved in many areas," since the chief constable was first appointed in 2022.

"West Midlands Police, whilst under the leadership of Mr Guildford, together with partners, has driven down crime by 10% in the last year. Specifically, robbery is down, burglary is down, car theft is down and youth violence is down," he said.

"Mr Guildford knows I expect this progress and hard work to be maintained and I look forward to continuing to work with him."