Matthew Barber 'disappointed' by plans to scrap Police and Crime Commissioners

Thames Valley’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) said he is ‘disappointed’ by the Government’s decision to scrap the role.

Labour’s Minister of State in the Home Office, Sarah Jones, made a statement in the House of Commons earlier today (Thursday), announcing the first of the Government’s police reforms, ahead of the publication of the White Paper.

She announced the Government will be abolishing the role of Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales at the end of their term in 2028 and transferring policing functions to elected mayors, wherever possible.

Separate policing elections will no longer be run, and police and crime panels will also be abolished, Ms Jones said.

The Government estimates the move will see ‘at least £100 million’ saved during this Parliament.

The role of Police and Crime Commissioners has been in force since November 2012.

Once complete, the changes are expected to save the Home Office around £20 million a year, which is ‘enough to fund around 320 extra police constables’.

In the chamber, she said: “Whilst the role of PCCs has evolved to include responsibility for commissioning services for victims, driving local partnerships and in some areas, responsibilities for fire governance, the model has failed to live up to expectations.

“It has not delivered what it was set up to achieve.”

Ms Jones added that public understanding of and engagement with the PCCs remains low, despite efforts to raise their profile.

“Less than a quarter of voters turned out to vote for them in the 2024 elections, and two in five people are unaware PCCs even exist,” she said.

Reacting to the news, Thames Valley PCC Matthew Barber, said: “I am, of course, disappointed with the Government’s decision to abolish the PCC role.

“However, my primary concern is that I continue to work with the police to further drive down crime while I remain in my role, and of course, for the staff in my office who are affected and face a period of uncertainty.

“Since being in office, I and my staff in the OPCC have achieved a great deal to improve the accountability and scrutiny of policing.

“We have worked with the force to deliver efficiencies and improvements in service for our local communities and engaged and led local partners across criminal justice to create safer communities and improve support for victims of crime.

“It’s important to state that there is still over two years before the transition to the Government’s new model takes place. 

“I will continue to work constructively with the Chief Constable during this period, on issues such as knife crime, tackling shoplifting and reducing vehicle crime.”

Due to the nature of how public services are organised in different areas, Ms Jones said ‘the process of establishing mayors across England is a complex one’.

The Thames Valley area does not currently have an elected mayor, but discussions on local government re-organisation are taking place locally.

She added: “In areas where plans do not yet allow for a transfer of policing to a mayor in this Parliament, we will establish new policing and crime boards to bring council leaders together to oversee the police force in their area until such time as mayors are in place in England.

“They will comprise local authority upper-tier leaders, co-opted members with appropriate skills and experience, and—if they are in the force area—mayors.”

She said these boards ‘will not be a return to bureaucratic and invisible committee-based oversight of policing that existed before the establishment of PCCs’.

Ms Jones added: “I stress that the decision we are announcing today is based on the shortcomings of the PCC model, not the PCCs themselves.

“PCCs have done and continue to do important work, and I will engage constructively with all of them until the end of their terms.”