A MEETING to hear a complaint against the elected head of Thames Valley Police has been put back a month after the committee decided it was ‘too complex’ to make a decision on last week.

Police and crime commissioner Anthony Stansfeld was accused of abusing his position by using his work email to personally warn a private citizen that he might face criminal action.

Complaints against Mr Stansfeld, who gets paid £86,700 a year, are sent to his own office before they are passed onto the Police and Crime Panel.

That panel is made up of 18 elected councillors from across Thames Valley and is designed to hold his decisions to account.

But it has now emerged the panel have no actual powers to punish him.

Outcomes of complaints are scrutinised by a smaller sub-group of the councillors.

On Friday, February 14, the sub-group met after the annual budget meeting to judge whether Conservative Mr Stansfeld had committed misconduct.

But because there were three new members, it was decided that the sub-group had not had enough time to read over the 'detailed submissions' from both parties – the complainant and Mr Stansfeld.

Instead of deciding an outcome, the sub-group agreed to discuss the complaint at the next Police and Crime Panel meeting in March.