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Jane Mudd is the police and crime commissioner for Gwent. She represents Labour.

I would like to start my first column for Caerphilly Observer by thanking everyone in Caerphilly who voted in the PCC elections back in May.

I am incredibly proud to have been elected as the first female police and crime commissioner for Gwent.

For those who don’t know me, I have been an elected councillor in Newport since 2012 and in 2019 I was chosen to lead Newport City Council. It has been a huge privilege to serve my community in this way and I am pleased to be able to now serve the wider communities of Gwent.

I want to reassure you that, whether you voted for me or not, I will work hard and do my absolute best for you throughout my term in office.

One of my first public engagements as police and crime commissioner was to meet with the families of Jack Lis and Shirley Patrick, who both died following dog attacks in Caerphilly.

Together with partners from Gwent Police and the local authority we laid a plaque in Caerphilly town centre that will stand as a permanent memorial to Jack and Shirley, who lost their lives so tragically.

Their families have been through the worst thing imaginable, and I must commend the courage they have shown campaigning for a change to the laws on dog ownership. Following these incidents, Gwent Police launched the LEAD initiative in Caerphilly to promote responsible dog ownership and I am pleased that this is now being rolled out across all of Gwent’s five counties. I hope that it prevents any more tragedies like these from happening in the future.

Although just a few months into the job, I must shortly deliver the two most important pieces of work that a Police and Crime Commissioner is elected to do – I must appoint a new chief constable to lead Gwent Police and develop a new Police and Crime Plan. This plan will set out what I want to achieve over the next four years and will also make clear what I expect the new chief constable to deliver.

During my time as leader of Newport City Council I was the Welsh Local Government Association spokesperson on community safety, representing all 22 local authorities in Wales, and co-chair of the Wales Community Safety Board. I have a deep understanding of many of the community safety issues affecting Gwent’s five counties and this informed the priorities that I set out during my election campaign.

These were:

• Protecting the vulnerable, tackling violence against women and girls, addressing hate crime.
• Focusing commissioning on early intervention and prevention, supporting initiatives aimed at preventing youth crime, supporting victims.
• Supporting campaigns to protect retail and hospitality staff in the workplace.
• Ensuring Gwent Police prioritise tackling serious and organised crime, cracking down on antisocial behaviour.

I know from conversations on the doorstep that these issues matter to almost everyone in our communities. However, I now want to delve deeper and hear from you about the issues that are affecting you in your communities in Caerphilly County Borough. I want to understand what you think I should prioritise during the next four years, where I should focus investment to support these priorities, and I want to hear about your experiences with Gwent Police. I also want to know what qualities you want to see in the new chief constable.

Your feedback is important to me. It will inform the development of my Police and Crime Plan and help to guide my decision making during the chief constable recruitment process. Please take a few moments of your time to complete my survey, have your say, and help me make a difference to our communities.

To have your say visit Gwent police and crime commissioner website.