Bedfordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner has received a national award for openness and transparency.

Kathryn Holloway received the Transparency Quality Mark from CoPaCC, the national watchdog that reviews PCCs and best practice in their offices and across policing in general.

Mrs Holloway said: “I’m absolutely delighted to receive this important award which recognises all the work that goes on in my office and in public to try to let people know what my team and I are up to and why.

“There are a huge range of legal requirements when it comes to the information which is posted and I have a very small team indeed compared with the offices of other PCCs, of just a dozen including part-timers and admin assistants, to handle all the work of the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, including distributing and overseeing over £1 million worth of grants to help support victims and increase community safety.”

CoPaCC head Bernard Rix, who lives in Biggleswade, said: “Although this is a national scheme, as a resident of Bedfordshire myself I’m delighted to be able to present this award to Bedfordshire’s Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.

“PCCs are public figures and are, rightly, publicly accountable.

“Transparency is a topic that both the Home Affairs Select Committee and Committee for Standards in Public Life have commented on.

“This award is a reflection that the Bedfordshire OPCC meets the standards that they require.”

Mr Rix formerly represented the Holme ward on Biggleswade Town Council, and lambasted four of the town’s Central Beds Council representatives as “a waste of money” during his fiery resignation speech last January.

Applications are now open for individuals and groups to apply for grants of £1 to more than £50,000 from Mrs Holloway’s Grant Fund, a budget formed of money from both the Ministry of Justice and Bedfordshire Police, to help projects improving victim support, preventing crime from happening in the first place, and enhancing the safety of the county’s communities in both towns and the countryside.

The deadline for applications is at 5pm on Monday, February 19.

For more see bedfordshire.pcc.police.uk, call 01234 842064 or email pcc-commissioning@bedfordshire.pnn.police.uk.