Committee announce new inquiry into Police and Crime Commissioners

The Home Affairs Committee is today launching an inquiry on police and crime commissioners – progress to date.
 
The inquiry will examine the work and effectiveness of police and crime commissioners to date, including:

• The effectiveness of commissioners in reducing crime and delivering an effective police service within their police force area;
• The role of commissioners in holding their chief constables to account;
• The role of police and crime panels in holding their commissioners to account;
• The division of functions and staff between commissioners and chief constables following the Stage 2 transfers under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011;
• The role of commissioners in budget and precept setting;
• The effectiveness of commissioners in promoting local policing priorities;
• Progress on establishing collaboration agreements with other commissioners, policing organisations and partners; and
• Transparency of and reporting by commissioners to date.

Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

“Police and crime commissioners are a key part of the new landscape of policing. However, their work to date has not been without controversy. This inquiry will take a comprehensive look at the work of PCCs to date, and how their role might evolve in the future.”

Submitting written evidence

The Committee invites written submissions on these issues by midday on Wednesday 11 December 2013.

Each submission should:
a) be no more than 3,000 words in length
b) be in Word format with as little use of colour or logos as possible
c) have numbered paragraphs
d) include a declaration of interests.

A copy of the submission should be sent by e-mail to homeaffcom@parliament.uk and marked "police and crime commissioners".

Please note that:

• Material already published elsewhere should not form the basis of a submission, but may be referred to within a proposed memorandum, in which case a hard copy of the published work should be included.
• Memoranda submitted must be kept confidential until published by the Committee, unless publication by the person or organisation submitting it is specifically authorised.
• Once submitted, evidence is the property of the Committee. The Committee normally, though not always, chooses to make public the written evidence it receives, by publishing it on the internet (where it will be searchable), by printing it or by making it available through the Parliamentary Archives. If there is any information you believe to be sensitive you should highlight it and explain what harm you believe would result from its disclosure. The Committee will take this into account in deciding whether to publish or further disclose the evidence.
• Select Committees are unable to investigate individual cases.

The remit of the Home Affairs Committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Home Office and its associated public bodies.