A damning report by MPs has warned more needs to be done to prevent ‘maverick decision-making’ from Police and Crime Commissioners, such as Greater Manchester’s Tony Lloyd.
Mr Lloyd represents the interests of millions of people in the borough, however just 15.1% of registered voters took part in the November 2012 PCC election.
There is no suggestion that Mr Lloyd is involved in any wrongdoing but the parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee found that only a quarter of PCCs had revealed certain financial data, despite being required by law to do so.
The Committee has called for a national register of officials’ interests, pay, perks and hospitality – defying Home Secretary Theresa May who previously shot down the idea.
“A national register is vital for local accountability,” Keith Vaz MP, Committee chairman, said. “We need to guard against maverick decision-making.”
PCCs controversially replaced existing police authorities in 41 force areas across England and Wales and were handed the power to set force budgets and high and fire chief constables.
Mr Vaz said: “The Government is going to publish a register of chief constables’ interests, but has so far refused to do so for PCCs, who share the power over policing.”
Worryingly, only 10 of the 41 PCCs had met statutory obligations and published full financial data required of them, which includes expenses and contracts tendered.
My Lloyd did publish his annual budget data online at the beginning of May as requested, however five commissioners failed to do so.
The Committee’s report also accused the Home Secretary of being been ‘keen to distance herself from any responsibility to assess the performance of the PCCs’, after she told the Committee they were ultimately ‘accountable to the electorate’.
Currently, Police and Crime Panels (PCPs), made up of elected representatives from authorities including district councils, scrutinise the work of commissioners.
However, the report said that ‘incompetent legal advisors’ had sought to prevent panels from scrutinising decisions by commissioners.
Mr Vaz added: “A system of local scrutiny makes sense for PCCs, but the public cannot possibly judge whether their PCC is upholding the standards of the office and giving them a good deal unless they make a comparison with other PCCs.”
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