ELECTED POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONERS ARE COMING

What are the Police and Crime Commissioners?

Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) will be elected for the first time in November 2012 in England and Wales. One PCC will be elected in each of the 41 Police Force areas. (In Greater London the Mayor takes on the PCC responsibilities.) Anyone who can vote in a Local or General Election will be able to vote for the PCC.

What will the PCCs do?

The PCCs will oversee the Police and they will also set a plan for community safety in their area. The idea of elected commissioners is that they will be much more accountable to the public. They will have a duty to consult the public on their plans.

How much power will they have?

The elected PCCs will replace Police Authorities and will have much wider powers. They will be able to raise or lower the proportion of Council Tax that goes to the Police. They will also be given control of funding that currently goes to local authorities for community safety and crime prevention.

The PCCs will be elected for a four-year term and they will have to write a five-year Police and Crime Plan that sets out their priorities and what they will spend their money on.

There are a number of priority areas that the Home Office has set out that each PCC will have to address: Crime, Anti-social behaviour, Re-offending, Substance misuse, Violence against women and girls, Youth Crime and Diversity issues. PCCs will be required by law to consult the public on their plans but each PCC will be able to do this differently.

What difference will PCCs make to young people?

Young people are affected by crime and the safety of their communities as much as adults are. PCCs will be making decisions which affect the communities in which young people live and the priorities of Police who will interact with young people. PCCs have a duty to listen to the public - young people need to make their voice heard among all the different calls from different parts of the community.

Some of the issues that may affect young people in the move to elected commissioners are:

Young people may be painted as a 'problem' to be 'tackled'

Candidates for PCC will have to appeal to the public's instincts about what will make them feel safer. If the candidates feel the people who are going to vote are the ones who think young people are generally a menace and a threat, then a negative view of young people will fill the election agenda. And candidates will be promoting their approach to 'dealing with' young people.

Young people's participation in the elections is likely to be very low

Young people will be excluded from the election, either by being too young to vote, or by not being seen as part of the electorate that the candidates have to appeal to. 

Poor relationships between young people and Police could be made even worse

Relationships between young people and the Police are already difficult. Young people's perceptions of the Police are pretty negative. If the newly elected PCCs pursue populist policies that are antagonistic to young people, it is likely to alienate young people further. 

Funding for preventative work is reducing

The PCCs will be handed control of funding for community safety, but the amount is significantly reducing. They will also be under pressure to maintain Police budgets which are being seriously shrunk too. 

Who will oversee the PCCs?

The performance of the PCCs will be overseen by a new Police and Crime Panel in each Police Force area. The Panel will monitor whether the PCC is doing their job properly. But they won't monitor how well the Police Force is doing or any other work the PCC has commissioned. There will be a small number of places on each Panel for anyone they want to appoint - in theory this could be a young person.

How can young people engage with PCCs?

NCVYS and CWVYS are working to promote young people's engagement with PCCs. Other organisations are working locally to make young people's voices heard. Each PCC will have his/her own agenda, so all 41 of them need to hear young people's concerns for their own area. But young people need to have a collective voice in order to be heard. Young people, working together, might think about: young people's hustings and invite candidates; a shadow young PCC through the youth council or parliament; or a youth manifesto.

Organisations who work with young people can support them to impress upon candidates that they need to work for young people too - they need to see young people as part of their electorate. Young people are just as much citizens who need to feel safe in their communities; members of society who are keen to take action to make their neighbourhood a safer place to live. They are also just as much the victims of crime as any other group. But their voice needs to be heard - before the elections!

The project - Safer Future Communities

The Safer Future Communities project aims to support the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sectors to engage with the elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

The project is led by Clinks in partnership with NAVCA, WCVA, NCVYS and CWVYS and Drugscope and Women's Resource Centre.

Get involved

NCVYS will be working with our members to promote ways to engage with PCCs and other community safety partners locally. 

Safer Future Communities networks - get involved locally!!

There is a network being set up in every PCC area - get in contact with your local organisation who is co-ordinating the network local to you. You can find a list here: www.clinks.org/services/sfc.

To find out more about how to get involved, contact Mike Fitzsimmons at mike@ncvys.org.uk.

Further information

The Home Office has a website dedicated to the transition to PCCs: www.homeoffice.gov.uk/police/police-crime-commissioners/

The Clinks website has a page about the Safer Future Communities project: www.clinks.org/services/sfc

Latest News

March 2012 - all 37 networks in England now have a contact organisation

To get engaged with the sector's preparations for PCCs, get in touch with your local network lead organisation - you can find them all as a download on the Clinks SFC page. (Just look for your Police Force area.)