PRESS RELEASE : Interim appointment of a policing member to the Sentencing Council [May 2023]

The press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 19 May 2023.

The Lord Chancellor has approved the interim appointment of Chief Constable Rob Nixon as a policing member of the Sentencing Council (SC) from 5 May 2023 to 30 November 2023, pending the outcome of a recruitment campaign for the role.

The SC was established under Section 118(1) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 to promote greater transparency and consistency in sentencing, whilst maintaining the independence of the judiciary. The SC’s responsibilities include developing sentencing guidelines and monitoring their use, assessing the impact of guidelines on sentencing practice, and promoting the understanding of and increasing public confidence in sentencing and the criminal justice system.

The appointment of non judicial Sentencing Council members are made by the Lord Chancellor after consulting the Lord Chief Justice.

All appointments are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, who was consulted about the interim appointment, and recruitment processes comply with the Governance Code on Public Appointments.

Biography

Rob Nixon was appointed as Chief Constable of Leicestershire Constabulary in November 2022.

Rob has served with Leicestershire Police since 1993. He was appointed Assistant Chief Constable, in April 2017, with responsibility for local policing, crime and intelligence and public protection, before being promoted to Deputy Chief Constable in February 2018.

Between 2015 and 2018, as temporary Assistant Chief Constable, Rob worked on collaborative projects across Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire.

Rob was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in December 2020.