POLICE and crime commissioners have been brought in to make police forces more accountable to the public.
Their role is to hold forces to account – with the the power to hire and fire chief constables.
They have also been introduced to reduce bureaucracy, with decisions about the running and funding of South Yorkshire now to be made by the commissioner, instead of the county’s now disbanded police authority, a cross-party body which used to oversee the way South Yorkshire was run and performed.
Commissioners will produce a policing plan, taking in account the views of local residents about which issues concern them most.
South Yorkshire’s new PCC will:
* Set the annual budget for South Yorkshire Police and the council tax precept;
* Produce a Police and Crime Plan;
* Be responsible for the budget from which community safety grants are made;
* Consult with members of the public about the issues that matter most;
* Publish an annual report stating how priorities and targets have been met.
PCC’s will have their work scrutinised by a police and crime panel, set up to hold the commissioner to account, made up of members of South Yorkshire’s four borough and city councils.
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