Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will be more
accountable to the communities they serve as a result of a
review led by Home Secretary , by
requiring them to explain their record on crime to the
public and strengthening their relationship with the Chief
Constable and force.
The Home Secretary will today (Tuesday 16 March) outline
the recommendations of part 1 of the review ahead of the
upcoming PCCelections in May
2021.
The review will ensure the public have transparent,
democratically-elected, local leaders who are equipped to
drive down crime and deliver the safer communities the
public deserve. It could also see them lead a wider range
of services, in time, such as fire and rescue.
Home Secretary said:
Police and Crime Commissioners play a crucial role as the
elected voice of the people for crime and policing, which
is why I am committed to ensuring they are accountable to
the communities they serve and are strong, visible
leaders in the fight against crime.
These recommendations, once implemented, will strengthen
and potentially extend the role of PCCs and help
them deliver the safer streets that the British public
deserve.
The 2-part review was announced in July 2020 and delivers
on a manifesto commitment to strengthen the accountability
of PCCs
and expand their role.
The initial recommendations will enhance the role of the
PCC by:
-
changing the PCC voting
system to first-past-the-post, so the public can vote
out those who are failing to deliver - this will create
stronger and clearer local accountability, and reflect
that transferable voting systems were rejected by the
British people in the 2011 nationwide referendum
-
making sure PCCs provide
the public with clear information on their force’s
performance
-
mandating the appointment of deputy PCCs to ensure
continuity in unforeseen circumstances
-
making changes to ensure more effective and consistent
relationships between PCCs and chief
constables
The recommendations will also help all parties (government,
PCCs
and forces) establish clearer ways of working and provide
chiefs with more clarity on their operational independence.
The review also found strong support for the government’s
ambition to increase the accountability of fire and rescue
services by having a directly elected official take on
governance of the services in order to simplify and
strengthen them across England.
As a result, we will consult publicly on whether to mandate
the transfer of fire and rescue authority functions to
PCCs in
England. This will form part of a Fire Reform White Paper,
to launch later this year.
The review’s findings also confirmed our desire to see more
combined authority mayors with PCC and fire and
rescue authority functions, and the government will set out
its approach to achieving this longer-term aim in the
Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper in due course.
The review’s recommendations were outlined to Parliament
via a written ministerial
statement.
The government has been clear that the review will not
consider the 43-force structure, or scrap the role of
PCCs.
The second part of the review will take place after the May
2021 elections and the government will communicate more
about these plans in due course.
