Jeff Cuthbert, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, has been officially recognised for his work in improving community cohesion in Wales.
During the Black History Wales Honorary Awards 2016, hosted recently at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay, Mr Cuthbert was presented with an award by the Chair of Race Council Cymru, Judge Ray Singh CBE.
Serving in the Welsh Government as the Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty between 2013 and 2014, Mr Cuthbert launched a new national framework for tackling hate crime.
As the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, Mr Cuthbert has said effective community cohesion should form part of the backbone of his police and crime plan for the region.
Mr Cuthbert said: “In my role as commissioner, I want to ensure people’s voices are heard in Gwent and I want to break down barriers and engage with some of our hardest to reach communities.
“I am positive that this will be a catalyst which will help us build trust and engage with groups which currently feel underrepresented in the region.”
Jeff Cuthbert- The First `Real` Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner says on receiving this well deserved award; ” I am positive that this will be a catalyst which will help us build trust and engage with groups which currently feel underrepresented in the region.”.
Well,. the last Crime Commissioner post holder said much the same when he was elected to the post, and the general view is he failed to do so , looking more inward towards building a very close relationship with the `police` and failing to look outward towards the people who elected him, in fairness he had little or no experience of representing people and communities.
The huge difference is Jeff Cuthbert ( The curtrent Police Commissioner) has `been there, ` got the T shirt. on how to represent people and communities
JC, when a Welsh Assembly Governement Minister, and he had responsibility for `Community Cohesion` he really did demonstrate how that job should be done, he consulted with no less than 143 groups, charities and other statutory bodies all respresenting `actual people`. He knows how the job should be done, he knows how to engage with communities, and he relates to people and communities with positive actions and great respect. in short, he gets things done;
This award is well deserved, is right on target and recognises Jeff Cuthberts commitment to the Communities he serves. Which he now does so as the Crime Commissioner for Gwent.
Well, we shall see. I am content to await developments as Jeff has only recently been elected. Actions always speak louder than words and it is too early yet to say whether “he gets things done” or not.
No doubt Mr Cuthbert claimed expenses for travel to and from the event and parking fee and/or overnight accommodation, police and crime commissioner – a “Real” waste of tax payers money.