The WLGA has today welcomed the National Assembly for Wales’ decision to vote against giving legislative consent to allow the UK Government to introduce Police and Crime Panels in Wales.
Earlier this year the UK government consulted on its proposals to reform public accountability of the Police by replacing Police Authorities with Police and Crime Commissioners and placing a duty on local authorities to set up Crime Panels to scrutinise the work of Commissioners.
The WLGA has been strongly opposed to these proposals since the onset of the consultation process. Welcoming the National Assembly’s ‘no vote’, Cllr Russell Roberts (Rhondda Cynon Taf), Deputy Leader of the WLGA said:
“We are fully supportive of the Assembly’s decision to vote against giving consent to the plans. The WLGA has shared its concerns on the proposals with Welsh MPs, Assembly Members, Government Ministers and Members of the Homes Affairs Select Committee. We are of the strong view that the Home Office’s plans are flawed. With large scale public spending cuts, it is the wrong time to introduce such radical change, nor is there any public appetite for such change. The Home Office’s own figures show that the cost of each election will be £50 million alone.”
Commenting on the Home Office’s proposal for local authorities to set up Crime Panels, Cllr Roberts adds:
“We have serious doubts over local authorities’ active participation in these proposed Panels. They will have little real power or say over how policing is undertaken across communities in Wales, yet local authorities will have a duty to set them up. This will add significant pressure to local authority budgets at a time when the financial challenges are already huge.”
Also, commenting on the Home Office’s proposal for elected Police and Crime Commissioners, Cllr Roberts said:
“WLGA Members are concerned that some of the Home Office funding that currently goes towards delivering the work carried out by the Community Safety Partnerships in Wales will instead be passed directly to Commissioners to commission community safety work. If this happens this will remove the ability for partners to make decisions collaboratively around how money is best spent in Wales and instead these decisions will be taken by individuals.”
