Police and Crime Commissioners (Accountability and Review)

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about the accountability of police and crime commissioners; to make provision about the measurement of police and crime commissioners’ performance; to make provision about the setting of priorities for police and crime commissioners; to require the Secretary of State to commission a review of the operation and functions of police and crime commissioners, including consideration of options for their abolition and replacement; and for connected purposes.

My constituents are worried about crime and disorder across their communities. It is the same for a great many colleagues, if not the vast majority. For years now, they have seen a rise in crime, be it anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhoods, crime on their high streets, or, in more extreme cases, violence. Those concerns really matter; people deserve to be listened to and taken seriously by the police.

I am pleased that this Government are taking action, with the Crime and Policing Bill making massive strides to protect our communities. However, it will take time to reverse the impact of the original cuts to police numbers and the erosion of experience over the previous 14 years. The problem is that the public feel helpless: they feel that no one is listening to them and they do not know who to turn to, who to talk to and who is responsible for the police in their area. That brings me to the purpose of my Bill: that too often, police and crime commissioners have not delivered for their communities.

I will argue that PCCs need to be replaced and reformed with police and crime panels while the wider devolution process takes place. However, first, to understand the problem, we must look back 15 years to the changes introduced by the then incoming Government and their promise to bring “democratic control over policing” through the creation of PCCs. That proposal resulted in PCCs replacing police authorities and becoming the sole authority. As Prime Minister, David Cameron explained that police and crime commissioners would

“lead the fight against crime”

and be someone

“to hold to account if they don’t deliver.”

Today, how many of our constituents can name their PCC? Indeed, how many know what a PCC is? How many of our constituents think that their PCC is leading the fight against crime? Many would say that the promises of that original Bill have not been delivered and that we need to amend these shortcomings for the sake of our constituents.

How did we get here? Back in 2012, the first PCC elections were held. Turnout in the first election was just 15%, making it the lowest-ever turnout for a peacetime national election. As Prime Minister, David Cameron promised that turnout would increase over time, and it did, but it was hardly impressive and certainly not representative. In fact, turnout last year, 2024, reached 23% across England and Wales but it coincided with certain mayoral elections on the same day. The apathy for PCCs remains.

The problems run far deeper. Indeed, in 2024, the Home Affairs Committee said that the PCC approach faced “a number of challenges”, the foremost being the lack of public awareness of PCCs and their functions, the relationships between PCCs and chief constables and the lack of accountability. The Committee was concerned that the introduction of PCCs had seen the creation of yet another layer of bureaucracy and additional cost, with questionable impact on the outcomes for police forces. It also noted that there was considerable variability in the relative performance between PCCs across the country, and that the nature of the relationship they have with their chief constable can damage the model entirely. The Committee concluded that their effectiveness was highly variable and questionable.

There is also the matter of legitimacy. As elected representatives, PCCs are held to account at the ballot box, but with turnout percentages often in the mid-teens, the public are clearly not taking them seriously. Also, while police and crime panels exist to scrutinise PCCs, they are constrained by funding and formal powers. The panels are limited in their funding to £53,300 a year, and this does not reflect the workload required to proactively hold the commissioner to account. In terms of formal powers, the police and crime panels lack the proper mechanisms to hold the PCC to account. The panel can only veto a decision once, be it a budget or a chief constable appointment. Furthermore, PCPs can investigate police and crime commissioners, but in real terms it is no more than a polite inquiry.

Across the country, we see examples of PCCs failing constituents. This became an issue for me in Warwickshire, and not just through casework and wider constituents’ concerns, of which there are many. It was truly crystallised by the news story of a cover-up between Warwickshire hunt, Warwickshire police and the police and crime commissioner. I will not go into the details, but the allegations are that the PCC, Philip Seccombe, and the then chief constable, Debbie Tedds, engineered a cover-up that prevented a case of illegal foxhunting by Warwickshire hunt from going to court. The PCC is supportive of Warwickshire hunt, and so was the chief constable, whom he alone appointed in 2021. That was rubber-stamped by the PCP.

Between October 2023 and November 2024, I wrote to the PCC and the chief constable six times on this issue. They blanked me. They withheld information from me, an elected MP, and also from the police and crime panel. The PCC claimed that he did not have the information and that he had not seen it. I believe he obstructed me from getting that information. As a result, neither I nor the residents of Warwickshire have any trust or confidence in Commissioner Philip Seccombe or the senior leadership team at Warwickshire police. There was clearly collusion. That is what the public believe, and that is what I believe, too. The chief constable, whose daughter worked for Warwickshire hunt, retired early in September 2024, just three years after her appointment.

Public concerns across the country are not simply confined to ineffectiveness or collusion, as in the case of Warwickshire; they also centre on costs. In my home county of Warwickshire in 2023-24, the running costs of the PCC and his office were a staggering £1,175,000. That is just for one year. That is the equivalent of 38 trainee police constables in Warwickshire for one year. Across England and Wales, the total budget for the 41 commissioners is just shy of £50 million. Given that context, I am encouraged by the Government’s ambition to move the responsibilities of PCCs across to mayors through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, but these changes will take at least two years to come into effect, so more immediate action is needed. In the meantime, we could be saving tens of millions of pounds a year and diverting that money straight to frontline policing.

It is increasingly clear that for, the most part, PCCs have failed to meet the needs of their communities. They have not brought greater accountability or improved police outcomes. I would argue that the time has come for us to change the system and do away with police and crime commissioners.

That Matt Western, Chris Bloore, Adam Jogee, Debbie Abrahams, Sam Carling, Rachel Taylor and Matt Western present the Bill.

Matt Western accordingly presented the Bill.