After regulation 13 of the principal Regulations, there shall be inserted the following regulations:
Fixed term appointments for certain ranks
(13A)
(1) This regulation applies to every appointment on or after 1st April 1995 of a person to the rank of—
(a) chief constable or assistant chief constable of a police force maintained under section 2 of the Police Act 1964 , and
(b) commander in the metropolitan police force and the City of London police force.
(2) Where it is proposed to vary by agreement the conditions of service of a person who on 1st April 1995 holds one of the ranks specified in paragraph (1) above indefinitely so that he holds that rank instead for a fixed term—
(a) that term shall be for a period authorised by paragraph (3) or, as the case may be, paragraph (4); and
(b) this regulation shall apply to such a variation as it applies to an appointment and as if the variation was an appointment.
(3) Subject to paragraphs (5) to (9), an appointment to the rank of chief constable shall be for a term of not less than four years and not more than seven years.
(4) Subject to paragraphs (5) to (9), an appointment to the rank of assistant chief constable or commander shall be for a term of not less than four years and not more than either—
(a) ten years, or
(b) a period expiring with the date on which the person appointed reaches minimum retirement age or, if that period is less than four years, four years,
whichever of the periods in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) is the shorter.
(5) The term of an appointment to which this regulation applies may be for a period of less than four years with the consent of the Secretary of State.
(6) The term of an appointment to which this regulation applies may, with the consent of the Secretary of State, be extended by agreement for a single period not exceeding one year where the extension cannot be made under paragraph (7) and, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the particular circumstances in which such an extension is sought are such as to justify it.
(7) The term of an appointment to which this regulation applies may be extended by agreement for a period or periods up to the time when the person appointed—
(a) has completed 30 years' pensionable service for the purposes of the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 , or
(b) has completed 25 years' pensionable service for those purposes and has attained the age of 50,
whichever is the earlier.
(8) Subject to paragraph (10) where the term of appointment of a person who—
(a) has been appointed under this regulation, and
(b) is subsequently engaged on relevant service within the meaning of section 53C(1) of the Police Act 1964,
would otherwise expire whilst he is so engaged, that term shall expire one day after the end of the period of relevant service.
(9) This regulation is without prejudice to any provision whereby a term of appointment comes to an end on promotion, dismissal or transfer to another police force and to regulation 16(1) and (2) (retirement) and the provisions referred to in regulation 16(3).
(10) Paragraph (8) shall not apply where the exception specified in section 53C(3) of the Police Act 1964 applies.
(11) A person does not cease to be eligible for an appointment to which this regulation applies by reason only of the fact that he has completed an appointment for a term determined in accordance with this regulation.
(12) In this regulation “minimum retirement age” means—
(a) in the case of a person who, on attaining the age of 55, will be entitled to reckon not less than 25 years' pensionable service for the purposes of the Police Pensions Regulations 1987, that age; or
(b) in the case of a person who, on attaining that age, will not be entitled to reckon 25 years' pensionable service for the purposes of those Regulations, the age at which he will be so entitled or the age at which he will be required to retire under regulation A18(1) of those Regulations, whichever is the earlier.
(13) For the purposes of determining an entitlement under paragraph (12), an election under regulation G4 of the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 (election not to pay pension contributions) shall be disregarded.
(14) Paragraph (12) shall have effect as if regulation A18(1) of the Police Pensions Regulations 1987 provided that the compulsory retirement age of a commander in the City of London police force was 65 years.
Requirement to advertise vacancies in certain ranks
(13B)
(1) Subject to paragraph (4), where on or after 1st April 1995, a vacancy exists in one of the ranks specified in regulation 13A(1)(a) and (b), a notice of the vacancy which complies with paragraph (2) shall be published by the relevant authority.
(2) The notice referred to in paragraph (1) must—
(a) invite applications to fill the vacancy;
(b) be published in—
(i) not less than one newspaper, or
(ii) not less than one journal which deals with police matters,
circulating throughout England and Wales; and
(c) specify the date, which shall not be less than three weeks after the date of the publication of the notice, by which applications must be made.
(3) Subject to paragraph (4), no appointment shall be made to fill a vacancy in one of the ranks specified in regulation 13A(1)(a) and (b) until after the date specified in accordance with paragraph (2)(c) in a notice in respect of that vacancy.
(4) Paragraphs (1) and (3) shall not apply where—
(a) the term of appointment of the person who currently holds the rank in which the vacancy would otherwise occur is extended under regulation 13A(6) or (7), or
(b) that person is appointed for a further term and the conditions set out in paragraph (5) below are satisfied.
(5) The conditions referred to in paragraph (4) are that—
(a) the person who currently holds the rank in which the vacancy would otherwise occur does so by virtue of an appointment under regulation 13A;
(b) the relevant appointment of that person was for a term which was less than the maximum term authorised in respect of that person by paragraph (3) or, as the case may be, (4) of regulation 13A; and
(c) the term for which it is proposed to appoint that person (and for which that person is subsequently appointed) is such that, when taken together with—
(i) the term for which he was appointed by the relevant appointment, and
(ii) the term for which he was appointed by any subsequent appointment,
the terms in total do not exceed the maximum term of appointment to which he could have been appointed at the time of the relevant appointment under paragraph (3) or, as the case may be, (4) of regulation 13A.
(6) In paragraph (5) “relevant appointment” means—
(a) an appointment made under regulation 13A after the procedures required by paragraphs (1) and (3) of this regulation have been complied with; or
(b) a variation in the conditions of service in accordance with regulation 13A(2).
(7) In this regulation “the relevant authority” means—
(a) in the case of the ranks specified in regulation 13A(1)(a), the police authority for the force in question;
(b) in the case of the ranks specified in regulation 13A(1)(b), the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis or, as the case may be, the Commissioner of the City of London police.