District Council’s Network – Police & Crime Panels

Today saw a trip to the Local Government Association in London for an event by the district councils network which was looking at what role district / borough councils will play in the new setup once police and crime commissioners are elected later this month.

The event covered the various powers that the PCC’s will have in the future along with details around the role of the police and crime panels which will for the first time see ‘districts’ in areas such as ours actively involved in the scrutiny of the police, but not in the same way as the current police authorities but via the active scrutiny of the new police and crime commissioner and their staff.

Also covered at the event, were some of the ways other areas are started to put in place the new arrangements along with the potential challenges such as the ‘scrutiny’ setup not been sufficiently funded to work and opportunities around the new setup, both in terms of influencing the commissioner to what the local priorities are, along with steps that can be taken to help retain local funding currently received from the police.