Steve McCabe – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve McCabe on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what evidence her Department holds on the effect of the creation of police and crime commissioners on police accountability.

Brandon Lewis

Around 9 million total votes were cast by the public for their Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) at the most recent national elections in May – this is in stark contrast to the invisible, unelected and unaccountable Police Authorities they replaced.

Previously, only seven per cent of the public knew to go to their police authority if they had a problem with policing in their local area. According to the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales, 59% of the public are aware of PCCs.

The Home Affairs Select Committee report ‘Police and Crime Commissioners: here to stay’ recognised that the “introduction of PCCs has worked well to date and has had some beneficial effect on public accountability and clarity of leadership in policing.