"This will take policing backwards" - PCC fumes over abolishment of role
Police and Crime Commissioner's will be removed from May 2028, the Government has announced
Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner says the decision to abolish the PCC role is "deeply disappointing and completely unacceptable".
The Government announced the decision to scrap the role yesterday claiming it would save £100 million and that less than a fifth of the population could name their Police and Crime Commissioner.
Home Secretary called the role, which was introduced by Conservative Prime Minister, David Cameron, in 2013, a "failed experiment".
Mr Wilkinson says there has been no consultation on the move and that there's no clarity on how the functions provided by the PCC's office will be maintained.
He said: "I am told I will be replaced by a committee of local authority leaders - but no explanation of how they will take on the complex responsibilities we currently manage."
The role of the Police and Crime Commissioner is to hold local police force's to account, lobby for extra funding to support victim services and community safety and to set policing priorities for the officers and staff to deliver.
During his time as PCC, Mr Wilkinson has helped oversee a transformation of improvements within Wiltshire Police, a Force that was graded as "inadequate" by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) and placed into special measures in 2022.
Mr Wilkinson recruited Catherine Roper as Chief Constable in 2023 to help spearhead the improvements, with the Force removed from special measures in May 2024.
He warned removing PCC's would cause more harm than good.
“Removing PCCs now - at a time when public trust in policing is at an all-time low - risks creating an accountability vacuum and taking policing backwards," he said. “Leaving forces to mark their own homework on standards, performance and finances, is forcing policing back into a time where many will not want to be taken – and one that PCCs have worked hard to move forwards from."
“Nearly all the government’s flagship priorities - supporting victims, tackling violence against women and girls, preventing crime in local communities - were pioneered by PCCs and funded through our offices. Shifting these responsibilities to already cash-strapped councils will harm communities and victims."
Mr Wilkinson has vowed to fight the decision "on every level" saying: "Wiltshire deserves clear, visible leadership and strong local accountability. The public deserve nothing less.”