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The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners' Transitional Board has recently welcomed the news that sitting Magistrates will no longer be barred from holding Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to account as members of Police and Crime Panels, and confirmation that Magistrates may stand for election as a PCC if they take a leave of absence from the bench and resign if elected.

Welcoming this new guidance, revised following pressure from a range of PCCs, the APCC Transitional Board and the LGA, the Chairman of the APCC Transitional Board, Simon Duckworth said;

"Police and Crime Commissioners have a crucial new role and it is in everyone's interest that they are properly held to account.

Magistrates' wealth of insight and experience make them perfectly placed to help monitor those who will 'police the police'. This decision will strengthen the oversight of PCCs and hints at the powerful influence that Commissioners could wield as they work together in the future."

Notes for editors – the new guidance for Magistrates

Following a meeting facilitated by Mervyn Barrett, Independent PCC candidate in Lincolnshire and attended by a cross-party group of PCC candidates, the APCC, and a number of other interested parties, the Senior Presiding Judge (SPJ) for England and Wales the Rt. Hon Lord Justice Goldring has reviewed and reissued his guidance for Magistrates who wish to be involved in the future landscape of police accountability and oversight. Magistrates must adhere to this new guidance if they intend to campaign for a PCC candidate, standing for election as a PCC or have a place/wish to apply for a place on a Police and Crime Panel which will hold the PCC to account. 

Click here for full guidance.

Holding office as a PCC

   “It is the firm view of the senior judiciary that the two roles are not compatible; and accordingly, that any magistrate elected to be a PCC should resign as a magistrate.” (This is a change from the SPJ’s earlier position which was that a JP who declares an interest in becoming a PCC must resign upon their declaration of interest. The new guidance effectively allows a Magistrate to take a leave of absence from the bench in order to campaign and return to the bench if not elected.)

Conduct while standing for election as a PCC or campaigning on behalf of others

“Any Magistrate who is standing for PCC or who is actively engaged in campaigning on behalf of a candidate should take a leave of absence and should at all times avoid behavior that could bring the judiciary into disrepute.”

“After the election a magistrate who is not elected may return to sitting.”

Police and Crime Panels

“In view of the fact that many magistrates have already been appointed as Panel members, it is considered appropriate for magistrates to become members without having to step down from the magistracy or refrain from sitting.”

Lord Justice Goldring concludes by stating that the guidance should be considered as interim only, and that it will be reviewed “…in light of the experience of the new system.”

Notes to Editors

1. 41 Police and Crime Commissioners will replace Police Authorities following elections in every police force area outside London in England and Wales on November 15th 2012.
2. Please contact Nathan Oley, Head of Press and Public Affairs, 07714 399 760 / Nathan.oley@apa.police.uk for more information or interviews.

3. Ministers have agreed that the Association of Police Authorities (APA) is best placed to establish a national representative body dedicated to supporting and representing Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) at a national level when they are elected in November. The APA's function is to provide Police Authorities with a mechanism to engage with the Government and other partners on national matters.

4. The APCC is a transitional vehicle aimed at supporting prospective candidates. After the elections in November, the APCC will aid PCCs in developing a coherent voice to effect national change that will assist the delivery of their local priorities. The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) will offer the following services to all PCCs:

*   Provide advice to candidates from May 2012
*   Facilitate a national programme of transition and induction for all PCCs
*   Ensure PCCs have a strong and positive national profile
*   Provide information on national policing policy issues and legislation
*   Consult PCCs to develop policy positions and influence change
*   Facilitate the leadership of PCCs on national governance structures such as the National Crime Agency, Newco (Police IT) and Police Professional Bodies
*   Assist PCCs in collaborating to share practice, procure services, and identify ways to achieve efficiencies through working together.

5. Cllr Simon Duckworth is the Chair of the Transitional Board of the APCC, currently run from within the Association of Police Authorities (APA). Simon has been an elected City Councillor since 2000. A Member of the City of London's Police Committee, the police governing body for the City of London Police, since 2002, he completed a four-year term as chairman of the committee in April 2012 and currently serves as both its deputy chairman and as chairman of the City's Economic Crime Board. Simon is the City of London's representative to the APA and for matters of specialist and strategic policing. Simon is Chairman of the National Olympics Security Oversight Group, with a seat on the Home Office's Olympic Security Board. He sits on both the Home Office's National Crime Agency Programme Board and its Economic Crime Co-ordination Board, and is also a non-executive director of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

6. The APCC is funded until the end of March 2013; once elected PCCs will make their own decisions about a national representative body beyond this date.