Responding to the Home Office's consultation paper "Policing in the 21st Century" Local Democracy think tank LGiU has called on the Government to use the 8 week consultation period to think carefully before introducing politically motivated police commissioners.
 

“This morning the Home Secretary announced that the 8 week consultation period on elected police commissioners would be followed by legislation in the autumn. We urge the government to think again before rushing to legislate to create another layer of bureaucracy instead of allowing locally elected councillors to perform their role, ” Andy Sawford, Chief Executive of LGiU said.
 
“Elected commissioners would create politicians with a narrow purpose and limited mandate who will not have the political and organisational support to develop a holistic view of the wider causes and implication of crime in local areas. The proposals could well lead to political pressures to increase spending during a time of cuts without driving out efficiencies,”  he added.
The LGiU recommends a local council commissioning model. In the local commissioning model:
 • There is no restructuring
• The police authority is retained to provide force oversight
• The police force retains full discretion to make operational decisions independently
• Police forces, local authorities and their partners continue to work collaboratively to identify local priorities and deliver on the ground

 “The LGiU welcomes the Government’s clear recognition of the need for greater local democratic accountability in the police, however we believe that the role of local elected Councillors should be strengthened in local decision making on policing. Proposals for elected police commissioners are not viewed positively by local authorities who have genuine concerns that they will be a hindrance and not a help to what local partnerships are trying collectively to achieve,”  concluded Mr. Sawford.