Lancashire Constabulary will start the process of looking for a new Chief Constable in September this year as the current incumbent Andy Rhodes has announced his intention to retire next year.

Mr Rhodes, who has spent his entire policing career with Lancashire Constabulary and has been in his current post since June 2017, will step down from the role in spring 2021.

He has been instrumental at a national level leading on the National Police Chiefs' Wellbeing portfolio. Lancashire now has an established wellbeing programme that means officers and staff are encouraged to look after both their physical and mental health as routine, not as an exception.

He has also been renowned for his commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion has seen Lancashire Constabulary ranked 12th in the Inclusive UK Employers Awards 2019/20 and being placed in the Stonewall 2020 top 100 employers.

At the British Association of Women Police conference last year Mr Rhodes talked to the audience about the influence on his career of the UK’s first woman chief constable Pauline Clare.

He remembered being a chief inspector going before a superintendents’ board which she was chairing.

“The first question she asked me was not have you run a football match or a firearms operation  - all the things I thought she was going to ask me,” he said.

“It was – ‘give me an example of a situation you have been involved in that required empathy.’

"It was a very difficult question for me to answer and had a huge impact on my thinking.

“It also made me commit to some serious personal development.”

Announcing his intention to retire today Chief Constable Rhodes said: “I am fast approaching 30 years’ service and I felt that now was the right time to let the Police and Crime Commissioner know my intentions about my plans to retire.

"Appointing a Chief Constable is a long process, so I wanted to ensure that there is a decent run-in to my retirement so that a suitable replacement can be found for Lancashire Constabulary. However, there is still a lot to do over the next nine months and I’m not hanging up my uniform just yet.”

Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw said: “He has been a passionate advocate for the welfare of an ever increasing diverse and inclusive workforce and has always strived to improve the wellbeing of officers and staff alike, something he can be rightly proud of.

"I am confident that with Lancashire being such an incredible place to live and the Force being such a high performing force I will have no problem whatsoever in finding an exceptional candidate to build on the standards we have jointly established, whilst ensuring that Lancashire Constabulary meets fresh challenges and that we strive to make our communities safe.

"For the next nine months, I know that Andy will continue to serve with enthusiasm and distinction and I look forward to a continuation of the successful relationship I have forged with Andy and to prepare the foundations for his successor.”

Details of the procedure to recruit the next chief constable will be announced in due course, with the official launch of the process in September 2020.