Police and Crime Commissioners

Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are directly elected politicians, with responsibility for overseeing policing in their area. Their main responsibilities include:

• setting an annual budget
• appointing a chief officer to lead their force
• setting a five-year police and crime plan and scrutinising their force’s performance against the delivery of the plan

PCCs also commission victims’ services and some crime prevention programmes in their police force area. They can also choose to take on additional responsibilities of overseeing the local fire and rescue service, and handling complaints made against the police. Relatively few PCCs have chosen to adopt these additional responsibilities.

PCCs have no power over operational matters, such as deciding what crimes to investigate and how. The chief officer of a police force retains operational independence for their force and is expected to make operational decisions free from political interference.

PCCs were introduced through the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. The most recent PCC elections took place in May 2024. The results of this election are included in the Library briefing PCC Elections 2024.

PCCs and elected mayors

There are 43 regional police forces in England and Wales, each with an elected politician responsible for PCC functions.

In 37 police force areas these functions are delivered by the elected PCC. However, in the remaining six police force areas, PCC functions are delivered by the following:

• In Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and North Yorkshire, the elected mayor of the combined authority fulfils the role of the PCC, usually delegating relevant responsibilities to a deputy mayor for policing.
• In London, the Mayor of London provides oversight of the Metropolitan Police Service through the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime.
• The Common Council of the City of London provides oversight of the City of London Police.

The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) provides an up-to-date list of elected politicians with PCC powers.

How PCCs are held accountable

PCCs are held accountable in three ways:

• PCCs are directly elected politicians, with elections held every four years.
• Police and crime panels provide formal scrutiny of PCCs between elections through regular public meetings.
• The Home Secretary has a power to issue directions to “ineffective” PCCs, which can require a PCC to take specific actions or to submit an action plan to the Home Secretary detailing how they’ll address the Home Secretary’s concerns.

Awareness of PCCs

Evidence suggests that many people do not know who their PCC is or what they do. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 42% of people over the age of 16 are not aware of PCCs.

Turnout for PCC elections is low. Turnout averaged 23.2% at the 2024 elections, representing the lowest turnout of any PCC election since the role was established.