Letter from Westminster
Posted by Philip Dunne, MP for Ludlow, at 08:37, Tue 28 February 2012:
I am in London from Monday to Thursday each week when the House of Commons is sitting. Awareness is rising in the capital that there will be an election in May to elect a Mayor for the next four years. The contest is unusual in that both the two main candidates, Boris Johnson and Ken Livingston, have held the post before, so have a clear track record which voters can compare. London's free papers the Evening Standard and Metro are running almost daily coverage of the contest. One of the issues being discussed is the respective track record and current priorities of candidates for fighting crime in the capital. This is because the Metropolitan Police are accountable to the Mayor of London, who is directly elected by residents of London. We do not have elections locally in Shropshire this May. But we will have an election on 15th November for a new post, a Police and Crime Commissioner to whom the West Mercia Police will become accountable. This will become one of the most important elected offices in our area. So raising awareness of the role and the rationale for its introduction is also important. West Mercia is a large area, comprising Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. We do not have a single paper which covers this region entirely, let alone a free one. So local parish magazines like this provide a helpful outlet to inform local residents.
The Police and Crime Commissioner’s role will be to become the main voice through which local people can hold the police to account. The Commissioner will set strategic priorities for the force, providing stronger and more transparent accountability of the police, holding the chief constable and the force to account; effectively making the police answerable to our communities.
A major part of the Commissioner’s task will be to ensure local community needs are identified and met as effectively as possible, so developing local relationships through building confidence and restoring trust. This will lead the Commissioner to work in partnership with local MPs, councils and across a range of agencies within the force area and at a national level, to ensure there is an integrated approach to preventing and reducing crime.
But the Commissioner will not be expected to run the police. Operational responsibility will quite properly remain with the Chief Constable and his senior team.
The Commissioner will take over the responsibilities of the existing West Mercia Police Authority, the members of which have been mostly appointed by local authorities. Shropshire Council will still have a role, appointing members of the Police and Crime Panel, which will scrutinise the Police and Crime Commissioner. West Mercia is an effective police force. I want to ensure it remains so, and therefore also to make sure we have a strong field of high quality candidates for Police and Crime Commissioner to chose from through the ballot box this autumn. Candidates will need to live in the West Mercia force area and to be nominated by 100 local people. It is expected to be a full-time role.
More information can be found on the Home Office website.
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Posted by Gordon Brown, 19:27, Tue 28 February 2012: (Is this post abusive?) #
I think the money would be better spent on one more old fashioned copper than yet another pseudo politician as if we don't have enough already. If I want to make a point to the police I write to them directly .
Gordon Brown.