Home Affairs Select Committee report on PCCs - statement West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Bob Jones made the following statement in response to todays Home Affairs Select Committee report on Police and Crime Commissioners (5 May): The police and crime commissioner model of police governance remains fundamentally flawed. As the Home Affairs Select Committee found, most of the visibility police and crime commissioners have achieved has come about thanks to the risible election turnout, disputes with Chief Constables, hostile criticism, controversy and high profile investigations. It remains the case that spending £100m at a time of cuts to policing to create a new class of politicians the public clearly doesnt want was a mistake - particularly as there is no evidence that crimes fallen or public confidence increased. In fact, the opposite appears to be the case; crime has at best flatlined, and confidence is under pressure too. It should be remembered, of course, that the supposedly invisible police authorities oversaw a decades long sustained reduction in crime - a feat PCCs seem unlikely to match. 90%+ of peoples interest in policing is concerned with local issues that affect their area. The West Midlands Police area covers nearly three million people and seven local authorities. No-one considers themselves a West Midlander; we define ourselves by our proud cities, towns and boroughs. Policing governance should reflect that, which is why I have created a Strategic Policing and Crime Board with members who can link to local areas, and why I have passported funding for community safety projects to Local Policing and Crime Boards, increasingly led by local people, which can set priorities that reflect local need, and allocate resources. With nearly three million people in the West Midlands, the job of PCC is too big for one person. West Midlands Police serves over five times the population of our neighbouring county Force in Warwickshire - and even there local PCC Ron Ball has appointed a Deputy and local community ambassadors. Whats needed are links into local areas, people with local knowledge and experience. As the Home Affairs Select Committee recommends, I announced right at the start of the campaign that experienced and respected Birmingham councillor Yvonne Mosquito would be my deputy, so voters knew who they were going to get. Appointments to the Strategic Policing and Crime Board followed an open competition, and the members of the board include people from all three major political parties, and independent members who stood or campaigned against me in the election. Its also much more diverse with women, African-Caribbean and Asian members. I note that there is not a single PCC in England or Wales from with black or minority ethnic heritage. My Assistant Police and Crime Commissioners represent me to local communities and feed back what they hear. The Local Policing and Crime Boards are becoming increasingly community led, and they too have run open recruitment processes to bring in members of the public with the commitment and local knowledge to ensure that our planning can become increasingly bottom up, with our objectives set by local people to meet local needs. Instead of being staff-led community safety partnerships, the Local Policing and Crime Boards will have a majority of members of the public. Effective policing governance is vital to ensure that policing is efficient and effective, that we can have confidence in policing, indeed that we can have pride in our police. PCCs are not the answer, but neither is another lurching and potentially expensive change. I would advise doing everything we can to build consensus and stability in how we support and scrutinise policing, possibly including a Royal Commission. My view is that a structure that builds on the existing community safety partnerships, as my Local Policing and Crime Boards do, is a good way to maintain local links and local engagement. If there is a desire to keep an elected representative, the Chairs of such bodies could be elected and could even be called a Commissioner. With minor legislative changes they could additionally be involved in the appointment of local commanders and local policing budgets. However, a lasting and consensual solution, providing certainty and stability, would be in the best interest of British policing and I hope any future government will do its utmost to achieve such consensus.
Posted on: Wed, 07 May 2014 07:07:36 +0000
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