Police and Crime Commissioners dubbed 'failed experiment' as role scrapped

GOVERNMENT SAYS THE MOVE WILL 'SAVE THE TAXPAYER AT LEAST £100M'

- By ANDREW SPENCE

THE role of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is to be abolished in a move the Government says will save the taxpayer at least £100m.

The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has announced the scrapping of the role which was introduced in 2012.

The role was initially introduced in an effort to increase accountability in police forces by having a directly elected individual as a figurehead. PCCs have a number of responsibilities including appointing and holding to account chief constables and responding to local people's concerns.

Despite efforts, 13 years after the role was introduced, the level of public knowledge and interest into the role remains low.

In the most recent Humberside PCC election, just 17 per cent of voters turned out to elect the Conservative Party candidate Jonathan Evison.

The roles will not be axed immediately. The transition to the new model will happen at the end of the next electoral cycle in 2028.