SOUTH YORKSHIRE MAYOR ANNOUNCES PREFERRED CANDIDATE FOR DEPUTY MAYOR
Published 7 May 2025 at 3:48pm
South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard has today named Kilvinder Vigurs as the preferred candidate for his Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in South Yorkshire.The Mayor took on Police and Crime Commissioner responsibilities last May when he was re-elected. He has spent the last 12 months learning about the work of South Yorkshire Police, holding them to account, hearing from communities across the region about their experiences of crime and feelings of safety, and meeting with a range of stakeholders who are involved in the criminal justice system.
As Deputy Mayor, Kilvinder will work with the Mayor to oversee and improve policing and criminal justice services, to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and to commission services to support victims and reduce offending.
She will deliver the Police and Crime Plan, chair the Local Criminal Justice Board, chair the Safer Roads Partnership, and have close oversight of the Violence Reduction Unit.
She will also lead the development and delivery of the Mayor’s manifesto priority – a Community Confidence Board to improve trust and confidence in the police and criminal justice system.
Kilvinder will also take a lead role on another Mayoral manifesto commitment on equalities. She will act the Equalities Commissioner, promoting equalities within all of the Mayoral Combined Authority’s work and ensuring the voices of the diverse South Yorkshire communities are heard and inform policy and practice.
The Mayor will retain responsibility for agreeing the policing budget and police precept, the publication of the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Plan and the appointment and dismissal of the Chief Constable. These cannot be delegated in law.
Kilvinder, who is from Yorkshire, has had a varied and extensive career spanning over 30 years in the public sector working across the criminal justice system.
She began her career as a probation officer in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, working with offenders and supporting their rehabilitation and later with victims of serious crime before becoming a senior civil servant.
In 2012 Kilvinder became Director of Probation in Thames Valley and was also national strategic lead on public protection work, including child protection, sexual offending, domestic abuse and national security. This led to her co-chairing the European Union De-Radicalisation Network Group for Prisons and Probation, working with policy makers and practitioners from across Europe.
More recently she has served seven years as Regional Probation Director in London before transferring to Yorkshire and the Humber, where, for the last 12 months she led a workforce of up to 3,000 people across departments such as courts, offender management, prisons and multi-agency teams.
South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said:
“Following the transfer of police and crime powers last May, I’m determined to tackle the challenges our communities face, making sure everyone in South Yorkshire feels safe and secure, no matter where they are, or who they are; that everyone can feel confident about getting what they need from South Yorkshire Police and our wider criminal justice system.
“None of the challenges we face are easy to solve; we know all too well the heartbreaking impact of knife crime in our communities, we have seen what it looks like when people take the law into their own hands, and every day we know that our villages, towns and city centres are all too often hit hard by anti-social behaviour, shoplifting, and violence.
“So we are on a long journey, but I am delighted that we will now have Kilvinder to help lead that charge as our new Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime. Her wealth of experience, her priorities, her values and her sheer determination to help people will help to change South Yorkshire for the better. I know she will work day in and day out to get to grips with the many challenges and opportunities in front of us, to help make South Yorkshire the happier, healthier, wealthier and safer place we all know it should be.”
Kilvinder Vigurs said:
“I am thrilled to be proposed as South Yorkshire’s Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime.
“I have spent time working in South Yorkshire in my previous roles and I know that there is some exceptional work already happening within policing and criminal justice. I am looking forward to bringing my knowledge, skills and experience to the role, building on this work and driving change and improvement.”
The South Yorkshire Mayor, Oliver Coppard will remain accountable for all the functions of Police and Crime Commissioner.
The appointment is subject to a confirmation hearing by the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel on Thursday 15 May 2025.
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