Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner has come under fire after plans to recruit a new assistant chief executive with a pay packet of £60,000 a year were confirmed.

Officials said they were looking to secure a “talented and dynamic” individual to the “pivotal” role in Barry Coppinger’s office.

But the move prompted scorn from Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen – a long standing critic of Labour’s Mr Coppinger – who said now was no time for “expanding bureaucracy and middle management” and described it as “more jobs for the boys”.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked if any consideration was given to a recruitment freeze of senior staff in the midst of the current coronavirus crisis.

A spokeswoman responded by stating that business continuity was being maintained.

She said: “Part of business as usual is to continue recruitment and to ensure that high quality career opportunities are available to talented applicants locally, regionally and nationally.

“All Police and Crime Commissioners appoint staff to deliver their programme of work. Cleveland’s Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner staffing budget is among the lowest in the country, representing approximately 0.6 per cent of the overall police budget.”

It is understood the role had been undertaken by Liz Byrne, who was also deputy monitoring officer, but she has now left the organisation after securing another post.

Mr Houchen said: “The people of Teesside expect this money to be spent on front line policing, which due to the coronavirus pandemic is more important than ever.

“This is no time for expanding bureaucracy and middle management.

“It is a betrayal of public trust and of our front-line officers to use this crisis to sneak through more jobs for the boys.

“Barry Coppinger has failed the people of Teesside and he should be stepping down as Police and Crime Commissioner.

“The fact he is trying to do this now at the end of his time just about sums up his tenure at Cleveland Police.”

The assistant chief executive will have responsibility for working with Cleveland Police to deliver a joint ‘Everyone Matters Equality Diversity and Inclusion’ programme which seeks to improve engagement with diverse communities in Cleveland.

They will also

Ensure delivery of the priorities and outcomes set out in Mr Coppinger’s Police and Crime Plan

Lead at a senior management level across a range of functions, including ensuring services are in place at the highest standard to support victims and witnesses

Provide expert professional support in driving excellence in police performance.

The spokeswoman said it was not a brand new role and had existed as part of the Office structure since 2016.

She added: “As is customary with all roles, the salary was assessed and graded in accordance with Cleveland Police grading procedures.

“We look forward to recruiting a talented and dynamic individual to what is a pivotal role, as we face a busy period ahead developing the Commissioner’s new 12-month Police and Crime Plan.

“The successful candidate will be working with partners across the criminal justice, community safety and victims landscape to ensure the entire system can recover from the Covid-19 crisis, to reduce offending and keep residents safe.”

Interviews are due to take place at the end of next week and an announcement about the new appointment is expected shortly afterwards.

Mr Coppinger has been in post since 2012, but has faced repeated calls to quit – those calls having intensified when the force he oversees was branded inadequate in all areas in an official report in September last year and described as “directionless, rudderless and clueless”.

He later announced he would not be seeking re-election with an election for Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner due to be held on May 7 this year.

But the coronavirus put paid to that and it was postponed for another 12 months, meaning Mr Coppinger will remain in place until a successor is elected.