To examine the appointment process, IOPC investigators reviewed all available documentation about it—including a comprehensive 1999 report from the Clerk of the MPA, who was at the heart of the appointment process. They then took statements from surviving members of the Appointments Committee, including one of the two who had stepped down, as well as others involved in the selection process or the fallout from it. These included two members of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), which routinely provided an assessment of each candidate for chief officer roles to the selection panels. Investigators also received several prepared statements from Norman Bettison.
The evidence indicates that, during the initial application process, there was no point at which he was asked about his involvement in SYP’s response to the disaster, and so there was no point during this phase at which he should have declared his involvement.
On the application form, candidates were asked to demonstrate their suitability for the role of Chief Constable with reference to actions in senior roles. These were understood to be roles of superintendent or above. Norman Bettison was a chief inspector at the time of the disaster and did not refer to any of the work he did in relation to the disaster in his responses on the form. The first role he mentioned was as superintendent in the SYP Traffic Division—a role he began in October 1989. There was no specific question asking for details of experience in more junior roles.
When the Appointments Committee met to review the applications, they were provided with a brief written assessment from HMIC of each candidate. The assessment of Norman Bettison mentioned that when he was at SYP, he had been a “member of a small enquiry team reporting to the Chief Constable on the Hillsborough incident”. The HMIC assessor who wrote this, Dan Crompton, told the IOPC that he had included it because he “was conscious that anything relating to Hillsborough was an extremely sensitive issue in Merseyside.” Some members of the Appointments Committee chose not to read the HMIC assessment, and two others stated they did not recall seeing it.
Seven candidates, including Norman Bettison, were invited for a two-day interview process. This included an evening gathering, where members of the Appointments Committee could meet the candidates in an informal setting. Though the interviews were structured to ask similar questions to each candidate, this gathering would have provided an opportunity for members of the Appointments Committee to ask about his association with the disaster. No such questions were asked.
At the end of the interview process, Norman Bettison was announced as the unanimous choice of the Appointments Committee.
