Police and crime commissioners to be scrapped

Police and crime commissioners in England and Wales will be scrapped by the Government, it has been announced.

The elected officials were first introduced in 2012 and their responsibilities include setting budgets for their police forces and appointing the most senior officer – the chief constable – for their area.

But ministers plan to abolish the role in 2028 when the next elections are set to be held to save at least £100 million and help fund neighbourhood policing.

Instead, mayors and council leaders will take up the responsibilities of policing arrangements.

Policing minister Sarah Jones announced the move in the Commons on Thursday, telling MPs that the model has shown little sign of improving confidence in policing.

She said less than a quarter of voters turned out to vote for them in the 2024 elections, and two in five people are “unaware PCCs even exist”.

The minister added: “The reality is that the PCC model has weakened local police accountability and has had perverse impacts on the recruitment of chief constables.

“They have failed to inspire confidence in local people, in stark contrast to the mayoral model, which has clearly been ultimately more successful.”

Ms Jones told the Commons that measures including ending elections for PCCs and abolishing police and crime panels will save £100 million this Parliament.

The changes are expected to make savings of £20 million a year, which could fund an extra 320 extra police constables, she said.

In a statement, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “The introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners by the last government was a failed experiment.

“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.”

But reacting to the expected announcement, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) chairwoman Emily Spurrell said the body is “deeply disappointed by this decision and the lack of engagement with us”.

She warned: “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.”

Ms Spurrell, who is also the PCC for Merseyside, said having directly-elected PCCs has “transformed policing accountability”.

Rupert Matthews, police and crime commissioner for Leicestershire, said axing the directly elected role is “a retrograde step that will see policing becoming increasingly detached from the public it is there to serve”.

Mr Matthews, who was first elected to the role as a Conservative in 2021 and has since defected to Reform, said: “This is a dark day for the concept of policing by consent.

“We are seeing yet another proposal from a Government in freefall.

“There has been no consultation, there is no clarity in today’s announcement, just a last minute dot com idea produced on the back of the proverbial cigarette packet.”

The Government is expected to publish a White Paper on wider policing reforms.

However, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said there has not been a “single sniff” of the White Paper since plans were announced about a year ago.

Responding to Ms Jones, the senior Conservative said: “Perhaps she can tell us when we can expect it and why the Government is so bereft of ideas, it has taken a year or more to publish that White Paper?

“Now, today’s statement about police and crime commissioners represents, in my view, a tinkering around the edges from a Government which is failing on crime and policing.”

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the Home Secretary said abolishing PCCs was one part of “the most ambitious police reform programme in recent years”, which will be set out in the coming weeks in the Government’s White Paper.

“This will lay out our vision to equip forces with the technology, innovation and structures they need to further cut crime, while delivering far better value for the taxpayer”, she wrote.

“These changes are needed, and they are needed now.”