Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) are to be abolished, the government has announced. Removing them will ‘cut the cost of unnecessary bureaucracy’, allowing at least £20m to be reinvested annually, it says.
Established in 2012 to ‘hold forces to account’, public understanding of – and engagement with – PCCs ‘remains low’, the government states, with consistently low turnouts in polls to elect them and two in five people unaware that they even exist. Their roles will now be absorbed by local mayors ‘wherever possible’, the Home Office states, with transition to the new model taking place in 2028.
‘The introduction of police and crime commissioners by the last government was a failed experiment,’ said the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood. ‘I will introduce new reforms so police are accountable to their local mayoralties or local councils. The savings will fund more neighbourhood police on the beat across the country, fighting crime and protecting our communities.’
Chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Emily Spurrell, said her organisation was ‘deeply disappointed’ by the decision and lack of engagement. ‘Having a single, visible local leader – answerable to the public – has improved scrutiny and transparency, ensuring policing delivers on the issues that matter most to local communities. Abolishing PCCs now, without any consultation, as policing faces a crisis of public trust and confidence and as it is about to be handed a much stronger national centre, risks creating a dangerous accountability vacuum. Whatever follows in our place must be rooted in local and national accountability, clear and identifiable leadership and connected to local communities.’
‘PCCs were an expensive experiment which has failed,’ stated Police Federation national chair Tiff Lynch. ‘The tens of millions of pounds they cost should instead be a down-payment for the sort of policing service this country and its police officers deserve – one with enough officers, with experienced police officers who can afford to keep doing the job, and where officers facing immense stress are properly supported when they put their lives and bodies on the line to protect all of us.’