The Home Affairs Committee publishes progress
report on Police and Crime Commissioners.
The
Home Affairs Committee of the House of Commons has yesterday published its
report, Police and Crime Commissioners: progress to date. The Committee
concludes that it is still too early to determine whether the introduction of
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) has been a success, and that given the
low turn-out for their election, the concept of police and crime commissioners
is still on probation.
Recommendations
Strengthening the role of police and crime
panels
- The
Committee finds that to date panels have struggled to understand their powers
and define their role.
- The
role of panels should be strengthened and extended in scrutinising the removal,
resignation or retirement of a chief constable, where this has been instigated
by the PCC;
- Panels should have the power of veto over the
appointment of a deputy commissioner, where they have not stood for election
alongside the commissioner;
Training for new commissioners before taking
office
- Many of the difficulties that commissioners have faced
could have been avoided given greater opportunity to find their feet before
starting the job;
- New
Commissioners should have a transition period of one month between election and
taking office.
An electoral mandate for deputy
commissioners
- The
Committee believes that the appointment of deputies must be transparent and
instil public confidence. As such, it recommends that at the 2016 elections
commissioners should be allowed to name their intended deputy so they are
elected on the same ticket.
Target setting by
commissioners
- The
Committee raises concern that almost half of commissioners were using targets
to hold their chief constable to account, despite strong evidence that
target-setting has resulted in the manipulation of police-recorded crime
statistics. The Report recommends that all such commissioners should review
urgently the auditing arrangements they have in place to ensure such targets
operate as intended.
The removal of chief
constables
- The
law must be changed to state clearly the grounds on which a chief constable may
be suspended or removed;
- Establishing a clear system of safeguards where a chief
constable is suspended, similar to those already in place when they face
suspension on a conduct matter;
- The
development of a third party mediation process for instances where the
relationship between a commissioner and chief constable breaks down, compulsory
training on which should be included during the induction period for
commissioners.
Chair's comments
Rt.
Hon Keith Vaz MP, Chairman of the Committee said:
“The concept of police and crime commissioners is
still very much on probation. Some Commissioners have fallen well short of the
public’s expectations and urgent reforms are needed to ensure that this
concept does not put at risk public trust and engagement in the police, the
very objectives for which PCCs were brought in.
The
hiring of deputies and the decision to remove chief constables are critical
decisions for local communities and it is vital that the amount of the scrutiny
applied to commissioners by police and crime panels increases. Panels’
powers must be strengthened and extended to ensure that any decision to remove
a chief constable is the right one for the public. Only this will provide full
public confidence.
Deputies should not be cronies that are given their job
on the basis of nepotism. By electing them on the same ticket we ensure that
the public will be able to have their say on someone who often acts with the
powers of the Commissioner.
Though we welcome good working relationships between
chief constables and PCCs, the arrangement should never be too cosy. The
setting of targets by PCCs must not promote the manipulation of crime figures
and all PCCs should review their auditing arrangements
immediately.”
Further information