My record

To assist him with the facts, can I make the following points.

The Appointments Commission undertakes the selection of appointees to NHS trust boards.

My application was supported by referees, one of whom is a member of the North Yorkshire Police Authority.

It is the North Yorkshire Police Authority which sets the police precept element of the council tax, not the chief constable.

Senior officers were provided with cars to undertake their duties by two previous chief constables before me and the level of the purchase price was set by the North Yorkshire Police Authority, not by the chief constable.

The refurbishment of facilities at the police headquarters was subject to a report of the clerk to the police authority following my formal request that he look into the issue. His report made clear that I and the director of finance were not responsible for the ramped-up costs.

Mr Gatenby is lucky if he has not had his life affected by illness.

Illness is out of an individual’s control as to timing, impact on life etc. It is clear why the Disability Allowance Act had to be brought in to combat ignorance, prejudice and discrimination of people against those that are ill.

When I left as chief constable, North Yorkshire was the safest place in England; crime had been cut by a quarter and detection rates were among the best in the country. Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary said: “Chief constable Cannings has turned around a potentially failing force into a high achieving force providing good policing services”.

The chairman of the police authority said: “Della worked tirelessly, and with considerable success, to rebuild the organisation that she led to the extent that she achieved her personal vision of four years ago to make North Yorkshire Police a leading service in the country. The public can ask no more of any public service leader than to deliver continuous improvement – and Della did just that and more.”

DELLA M CANNINGS QPM Thornton le Moor, Northallerton