A Plymouth Labour councillor has become the first ever Labour chair of the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Panel and is also the first woman to chair the panel.

Cllr Sally Haydon, who is Plymouth City Council’s Cabinet member for Community Safety, Libraries and Cemeteries and Crematoria, was voted in at the first meeting of the panel of the municipal year on 19 July.

The Police and Crime Panel is a group of elected members and two independent individuals from across Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly which meets quarterly and has the job of scrutinising the actions and decisions of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall.

Cllr Haydon said she was “very proud” to be the first woman to hold the position.

“It’s a really important role and I will be ensuring the panel holds the Police and Crime commissioner to account,” she said.

“This is a key time to hold this role following the election of the new Labour government and its mission to take back our streets by halving serious violent crime and raising confidence in the police and criminal justice system to its highest levels.

“I know the people of Plymouth have had enough of Ms Hernandez continually increasing her precept year on year since being in office and residents not seeing important issues like ASB being tackled and community policing not being increased so we will be pressing her for results.

“It is also disappointing that Ms Hernandez decided to go ahead with appointing a deputy when the panel’s recommendation was against the appointment.

“We believe that money would be better spent on frontline officers and will be scrutinising that decision carefully over the coming months.”