‘No thought put into rushed decision’ to scrap PCCs as policing minister ‘unable to answer’ key questions

Sarah Jones met with PCCs at a major summit in London last night, five days after she said their roles would be scrapped in 2028.

Sources involved in the discussion claim she was ‘unable to answer key questions’ about what impact the move would have and admitted the idea hadn’t been on the minds of officials for a long time.

It’s led to accusations that the government is ‘scrambling for ideas’ to save money ahead of a difficult budget next week.

The Home Office said last Thursday that the policy would save £100 million of taxpayers’ money by the end of the Parliament, which would be used to fund more police officers.

But when asked about the transition of roles currently held by PCCs, like funding programmes to prevent young people picking up knives or tackling misogynistic behaviours before they escalate, the policing minister is said to have repeatedly said ‘we still have to think about that’.

That’s despite ambitious targets set by her department of halving both violence against women and girls and knife crime in a decade.

LBC understands police and crime commissioners were only told their jobs would be scrapped in a Microsoft Teams call 90 minutes before a statement was made to Parliament on Thursday.

It was described by several commissioners as being ‘a huge shock which came out of nowhere’.

“Not everyone could make it to that call either,” Chris Nelson, the Conservative PCC for Gloucestershire said, “and some of my staff started reading the news online before I’d had a chance to speak to them.

“They were in tears. A lot of them are young and have their first mortgages, but above all, they actually care about the work they’re doing.”

Emily Spurrell, the chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, and Labour PCC for Merseyside, told LBC it had led to a lot of resentment and anger among her colleagues.

“At a time when trust and confidence is low in policing and we’re developing new technologies and a new national centre, I think reducing the oversight and scrutiny of local police chiefs is a mistake,” she said.

“My concern is the only way they’re going to be able to deliver the savings the Home Office wants to, is by reducing the offering to the public.

“The commissioning of victims’ services, the preventative work we do engaging with young people and trying to tackle violence against women, if they try and reduce the scope of those teams you will see less work being done and the public will feel a difference.”

A Home Office spokesperson told LBC: “We recognise the efforts of all current and former Police and Crime Commissioners, and thank them. These individuals served their communities and will continue to do so until they have completed their current terms.”  

“We’ve been clear that the transition to the new model will happen at the end of the next electoral cycle in 2028. 

“The move comes as part of a major series of reforms to policing to raise national standards within the police, strengthen performance management and end the postcode lottery in crime outcome.

Police chiefs have also warned that targets to slash knife crime and violence against women are at risk because of stretched finances.

And senior officers have said a key part of tackling growing rates of rape and domestic abuse is making sure victims have the confidence to come forward.

The charities that support them after they do are often commissioned locally by police and crime commissioners.

Policing Minister Sarah Jones told MPs last week that the role of PCCs, who are also tasked with holding chief constables to account and setting budgets and priorities for a police force, would be transferred to mayors or local authorities from 2028.

She described their introduction in 2012 as “a failed experiment”.

Matthew Scott, the Conservative PCC for Kent, told LBC: “It’s clearly a rushed decision, they haven’t looked at any contemporary evidence and they’ve treated people who work for PCCs dreadfully.

“Don’t cry over the fact politicians have been told they’re leaving, it’s our staff that have been treated abysmally. And there’s a lot of charities who are uncertain about their futures, where their funding is going to come from to support victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence.

“They’re desperate to find savings which they can’t find in other ways.”

Chris Nelson, the Gloucestershire PCC, went further, telling LBC he believed the abolition of their jobs was the first step in a move to reduce the operational independence of chief constables, and would lead to ‘more political policing’.

He said: “All the indications are that the home secretary and home office wants to have more control over the 43 forces and I think even though commissioners can be accused of being political, this will mean the government will have more politics it can direct into policing.”