The Office of Police and Crime Commissioner Christopher Salmon has been highly commended in a national study of innovation.

It was the only Welsh office to be shortlisted for honours in the review of PCC teams across England and Wales by independent analyst CoPaCC.

The Dyfed-Powys success comes six months after an award for public engagement and 10 months after an honour for transparency.

Mr Salmon said: “Innovation is being used to put the public first across Dyfed-Powys. My office puts much effort into this and is eager to continue looking at improvements to reflect evolving public needs.”

Bernard Rix, chief executive of CoPaCC, said: “Dyfed-Powys is among those most successfully demonstrating significant progress on the innovation journey.”

CoPaCC published a detailed innovation report this summer and today revealed that Mr Salmon’s office was one of three to be highly commended. The others were Northamptonshire and Surrey.

Innovations by Mr Salmon include the Commissioner’s Fund, new links with academia and a mental health triage unit.

Launched in summer 2013, the Commissioner’s Fund offers grants of up to £5,000 to community initiatives that develop ideas with a positive impact on the area they serve.

Its first two rounds, in summer 2013 and spring 2014, saw £161,000 distributed to 46 projects. Round three is now open for bids.