South East PCCs react to decision to axe role

Kent PCC Matthew Scott argued that "PCCs have achieved a lot"

South East police and crime commissioners (PCC) have said that plans to abolish the role could plunge policing into a place of uncertainty.

On Thursday it was announced that PCCs will be scrapped in England and Wales in a move the Home Office says will save £100m over this parliament's term.

From 2028 police forces, depending on the area they serve, will either be overseen by elected mayors or council leaders who will head up policing and crime boards.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has called the system, which was introduced in 2012, a "failed experiment".

This claim was refuted by Kent PCC Matthew Scott, who argued that "PCCs have achieved a lot" and performed an important role with a key oversight function.

He told BBC Radio Kent: "There are real concerns about policing leadership at the moment, whereas we are the ones there to hold them to account.

"I'm going to carry on doing my role; carry on being contactable, continue holding the force to account, and continue supporting victims."

PCCs' responsibilities include setting an annual budget, appointing chief constables and producing a policing plan.

While there will be no immediate change, Mr Scott said there would be "real uncertainty for policing, policing governance, but also policing funding as well" once the role is abolished.

Surrey PCC Lisa Townsend is concerned that the mayoral question remains "unanswered"

Scott's Conservative colleague in Surrey, Lisa Townsend, expressed the same concern from a governance perspective.

While it was already known that PCC responsibilities in Sussex will be absorbed into the new mayoral model next year, the situation in Surrey is not as straightforward.

The county will have two unitary councils but it has not yet been confirmed whether there will be a mayor. There are no plans to install a mayor in Kent and Medway.

Ms Townsend is concerned that the mayoral question remains "unanswered".

She said: "I would urge them [the government] to clarify what that means for our communities in what is already a period of great change for our county."

Sussex PCC Katy Bourne, whose office is already "making preparations" for the new mayoral model, said the "transition must safeguard accountability and maintain strong local oversight of policing".

Sussex PCC Katy Bourne said the "transition must safeguard accountability and maintain strong local oversight of policing"

All three PCCs have reservations about the decision itself.

Mr Scott said it had been "rushed and hurried", while Ms Bourne believes that handing the responsibility over to police and crime boards marks a "significant and retrograde step to police governance".

Ms Townsend called it a "sad day for the victims of crime in Surrey and the amazing organisations my office commissions and funds".

Policing minister Sarah Jones told the Commons on Thursday that the model had "failed to live up to expectations" and "not delivered what it was set up to achieve".

"Public understanding [of PCCs' role] remains low despite efforts to raise their profiles," she added.