Dismissal proceedings for South Yorkshire Police chief David Crompton

Chief Constable Crompton was suspended on 27 April

Dismissal proceedings for the suspended South Yorkshire chief constable David Crompton have begun.

Police and crime commissioner Dr Alan Billings suspended Mr Crompton on 27 April because of concerns about public confidence in the force.

It comes after the Hillsborough inquests concluded there were police failings in the disaster.

Mr Crompton was suspended under Section 38 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.

Dr Billings has written to the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Sir Tom Winsor, as part of the statutory dismissal process.

But he cannot take a final decision on whether Mr Crompton should resign or retire until Sir Tom has provided his views in writing.

'No choice'

Mr Crompton reiterated an apology for the disaster hours after the conclusions of the inquests and said he accepted the findings.

But he was criticised by the families of Hillsborough victims for the stance taken by lawyers representing the police during the two-year-long hearings.

Dr Billings said he had "no choice" but to suspend Mr Crompton after shadow Home Secretary Andy Burnham warned "those responsible must be held to account".

Mr Crompton was due to retire in November after leading the force for four years.

'Touchstone'

At a Police Federation Conference earlier, Home Secretary Theresa May called for police to let the Hillsborough disaster "be a touchstone for everything you do".

She said: "Let the hostility, the obfuscation and the attempts to blame the fans serve as a reminder of the need for change.

"Make sure your institutions, whose job it is to protect the public, never again fail to put the public first.

"And put professionalism and integrity at the heart of every decision, every interaction, and every dealing with the public you have."