Ditch elected commissioners and bring police oversight into council structures: LGA

Councils must be at the heart of any new system to make the police more accountable, the Local Government Association has said, warning that plans for elected commissioners must be “fully explored” before getting the green light.

Calling for the publication of a White Paper on the issue, the LGA said directly elected commissioners could weaken the police’s ability to fight crime and would not provide the best means for improving police accountability.

The LGA said it had raised its concerns about commissioners with the Home Secretary. It wants to make sure that they do not:

• Fragment local partnerships “which are vital in reducing crime and anti-social behaviour as competing manifesto commitments pull councils and the police in different directions”
• Make place-based budgeting more difficult
• Increase the possibility that responsibility is passed between public agencies for failures to reduce crime
• Divert resources from important but less visible police activity, “such as tackling serious and organised crime and violent extremism”, and
• Use scarce resources on servicing elected officials rather than on frontline staff.

The LGA said the emphasis should be on building good practice already established in some areas which sees accountability spread “across street and neighbourhood level, to ward, district, borough and city level, through to police force and combined police force levels”.

As an alternative to elected commissioners, the LGA has proposed the appointment by each council of two policing champions, who could then form force-wide executives to replace existing police authorities.

Cllr Richard Kemp, vice-chairman of the LGA, said this would not take an enormous amount of bureaucracy.

He added: “The size of an executive would depend on the number of principal authorities in a police force area, with the policing champions being responsible for all policing activity within an area. This solution not only identifies to residents who is accountable, it also ensures a good connection between local and force-wide issues.”

Kemp claimed the reintegration of police oversight into council structures would be not only the most cost effective solution, but also require minimal legislative changes, drive out duplicate spending and deliver efficiency savings.