Police Chief Constable Will Retire From Her £150,000 Job

One of Britain’s top women police officers will ‘retire’ from her £150,000-a-year job – before returning to it a day later to protect her pension.

Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman, head of the North Wales force, will retire before rejoining after the 24-hour break.

Ms Blakeman, 56, who is chairman of the British Association of Women in Policing, is set to hang up her uniform on January 15 before she is rehired by the same force on the morning of January 17. 

The move, due to be endorsed by the Police and Crime Panel, comes after she completed three decades in policing, the period of service after which many officers were usually expected to retire.

It means she will bypass an unusual feature where certain older police pension schemes decline in value for every year that an officer serves continuously past 30 years.

The oddity has led to the establishment of a national Retire and Rehire scheme, which allows forces to retain skilled staff.

The pause in service on January 16 means her pension will be frozen at its maximum amount. Deputy Chief Constable Nigel Harrison will become acting chief constable for the day.

Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales Andy Dunbobbin supported the recommendation, subject to the approval of the Police and Crime Panel next week.

‘I have agreed to put forward Chief Constable Blakeman’s request to enter into the national Retire and Rehire Scheme,’ he said. ‘The widely used scheme is in accordance with updated guidance from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, and the College of Policing.

‘It is important to emphasise that this will come at no cost to the taxpayer and there will be no break in leadership at the head of North Wales Police.

‘Chief Constable Blakeman and I, alongside all the Chief Officers of North Wales Police, remain as committed as ever to ensuring that our region is the safest and most secure place in the United Kingdom.’

In 2023, Ms Blakeman was the first woman appointed to the top job at North Wales Police in the force’s 48-year history.

The King’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service has been given to her.

Last month, Northumbria Police Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine retired briefly before being reinstated, and West Midlands Police Chief Constable Craig Guildford similarly retired for a month under the same scheme last year.

They take from the public purse when most of us can’t afford a pension, and those who can are deprived of it. What’s wrong with the country that treats its people so differently and couldn’t care less?

If you are fortunate enough to work in the public sector, you are assured a job for life and a lucrative pension, while the rest of us are lucky to even get our pension, which, I might add, we paid into, but are now being told it’s a benefit. It’s not a benefit, we paid into it, it’s our money, and our government have effectively stolen it – give it back.

A person’s resignation is final; they shouldn’t be hired again for the same position, but of course, it’s the gravy train again – all aboard, choo choo!