What Police and Crime Commissioners Control in Your Area

A Police and Crime Commissioner can shape local policing without deciding who gets arrested on a Saturday night. Police and Crime Commissioners control the priorities, funding and accountability arrangements that guide a police force.

That distinction matters when crime rises, council tax changes or a local station closes. The commissioner may influence the response, but the chief constable manages daily operations. Here is what the role covers, what it cannot do, and how voters can judge performance.

What Police and Crime Commissioners are responsible for

Police and Crime Commissioners are elected officials in England and Wales. Each one oversees policing across a defined force area, such as Durham, Cleveland or Hampshire. Scotland and Northern Ireland have different policing arrangements.

Their legal duty is to secure an efficient and effective police force. They also act as a public link between residents, the force and local partners. The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners explains the PCC role in terms of responsibility for the totality of policing in the area.

A PCC’s main responsibilities include:

• setting local policing priorities through a Police and Crime Plan;
• agreeing the force budget and council tax policing precept;
• appointing, reappointing or dismissing the chief constable;
• holding the chief constable to account for performance;
• commissioning services for victims and crime prevention;
• working with councils, community safety bodies and other public services.

The role is strategic rather than operational. A commissioner can demand better results on burglary, violence or antisocial behaviour, but cannot personally order officers to investigate a particular suspect.

Some areas have different arrangements. In London, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime carries out the equivalent governance role. In areas with combined authority arrangements, a mayor may exercise PCC responsibilities. Check your local force website to identify who is accountable where you live.

The Police and Crime Plan sets local priorities

Every PCC must publish a Police and Crime Plan. The plan normally covers a five-year period and sets out the problems the commissioner expects the force to address.

It may prioritise visible neighbourhood patrols, burglary, knife crime, rural crime, violence against women and girls, road safety or support for victims. The exact mix depends on local evidence and public concerns.

A strong plan should contain measurable commitments. Residents should be able to see what improvement means in practice, whether that involves shorter response times, better treatment for victims or a reduction in repeat antisocial behaviour.

The chief constable must have regard to the plan when running the force. However, the document does not turn the commissioner into an operational commander. It sets direction and expected outcomes, whilst the chief constable decides how officers and staff deliver them.

Public consultation is part of the process. PCCs can gather views through surveys, meetings, local forums and engagement with councils and voluntary organisations. Residents who want to influence priorities should read the plan before attending a consultation. A clear request backed by local evidence carries more weight than a general complaint about crime.

Who runs the police force, the PCC or the chief constable?

The answer depends on the decision.

The PCC is responsible for governance, funding, priorities and public accountability. The chief constable is responsible for leading the force and making operational decisions. That includes decisions about investigations, arrests, intelligence, patrol deployment and the handling of individual incidents.

The PCC decides what the force must achieve. The chief constable decides how officers will carry out that work.

A commissioner can question performance and require information. They can ask why burglary outcomes have fallen, whether emergency calls receive an appropriate response, or how the force is dealing with staff shortages. They can also publish reports and challenge the chief constable in public meetings.

The commissioner appoints the chief constable, subject to the legal scrutiny process. If performance remains unacceptable, the PCC can begin the process of removing the chief constable. A local Police and Crime Panel scrutinises the appointment and can exercise veto powers in defined circumstances.

That power creates accountability without removing operational independence. A PCC cannot tell officers to arrest a named person, stop a particular investigation or ignore a crime because it creates political difficulty. Attempting to do so would cross the boundary between democratic oversight and police operations.

The practical test is simple. If a commissioner promises more attention to shoplifting, they must use the plan, budget and performance process to press for it. They cannot direct an officer to intervene in one specific case.

What Police and Crime Commissioners control in the budget

The police budget is one of the commissioner’s most direct powers. PCCs set the annual amount available to the force, approve major financial decisions and decide how local funding is allocated within the governance framework.

Police funding usually comes from two main sources:

• a grant provided by central government;
• a council tax precept collected locally.

The precept is the policing element of your council tax bill. It is not the entire bill, which also funds services such as rubbish collection, social care and fire services. The PCC proposes the policing amount each year, and the money is collected by local councils on the commissioner’s behalf.

A higher precept can provide more money for officers, staff, vehicles, buildings or specialist services. It also increases household bills. A lower precept may reduce pressure on residents, but can leave less money available when wages, technology and other costs rise.

Government rules limit how far a precept can increase without a referendum. The exact threshold can change between financial years, so residents should check the latest budget papers rather than rely on an old figure.

A responsible budget should show the effect on council tax, staffing, reserves and frontline services. It should also explain difficult choices. Promising more policing whilst cutting the funding that pays for it does not add up.

The Hampshire PCC role information gives a useful example of how the office links local accountability with financial decisions. The same basic principle applies elsewhere, although each force has different pressures.

Services PCCs can fund beyond the police

A PCC’s influence is wider than police stations and patrol cars. Commissioners can award grants for crime and disorder reduction, including funding for organisations outside the police.

Common examples include victim support, domestic abuse services, youth diversion, substance misuse projects, community safety work and schemes designed to prevent repeat offending. The exact services vary by force area and annual budget.

These grants can support charities, councils, Community Safety Partnerships and other local organisations. A PCC may also bring partners together when crime has causes that policing alone cannot fix. For example, antisocial behaviour around a town centre may require action by the council, landlords, transport providers and local businesses as well as officers.

Commissioners also have a role in the complaints system. They do not investigate every complaint personally, but they oversee parts of the wider arrangements and can identify patterns in how the force treats the public.

In some areas, the commissioner also oversees fire and rescue services. That office is called a Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, or PFCC. Where the arrangement exists, residents should expect the commissioner to account for both policing and fire governance.

What PCCs do not control

Understanding the limits of the office prevents false expectations.

A PCC does not control the Crown Prosecution Service, the courts or prison policy. They cannot decide whether prosecutors bring a charge, tell a judge what sentence to impose or order the early release of a prisoner. National immigration policy is also outside their authority.

The commissioner does not personally run investigations. They cannot guarantee that a particular case will result in an arrest or conviction. Those decisions depend on evidence, police procedure, prosecutorial decisions and the courts.

A PCC can still influence crime outcomes. They can make repeat offending a local priority, fund prevention work, press the chief constable for better performance and use the budget to support specialist teams. Yet local powers cannot deliver every national pledge about sentencing, prison capacity or border control.

This distinction is useful when comparing local accountability with party policy. Reform UK’s crime policy details discuss stronger visible policing, tougher sentencing and additional prison capacity. Those proposals involve national government as well as local policing. Voters can read the wider programme on the Reform UK website, then separate promises a PCC could deliver from those requiring Parliament or ministers.

How to hold your PCC accountable

The most effective scrutiny starts with the documents. Read the current Police and Crime Plan, the annual report and the latest budget. Look for clear targets, delivery dates and performance figures.

You can also check:

• whether the commissioner attends public meetings and answers difficult questions;
• how the council tax precept changed;
• whether the force met its stated priorities;
• where grants for victims and prevention were awarded;
• how the chief constable’s performance was reviewed.

Police and Crime Panels provide another layer of scrutiny. They contain local representatives and can question the commissioner, examine decisions and challenge parts of the budget process. They do not run the police, but they can make accountability more visible.

The official GOV.UK collection of PCC publications provides background material and formal documents about the role.

For a local concern, contact the PCC’s office with a precise question. Ask which part of the plan covers the problem, what funding supports the response and when results will be published. Complaints about an individual officer or investigation normally need to go through the police complaints process instead.

Conclusion

Police and Crime Commissioners control the direction and resources of local policing, not the minute-by-minute decisions of officers. Their strongest powers involve the Police and Crime Plan, the budget, the council tax precept, chief constable accountability and funding for victims and prevention.

That gives voters a clear way to judge the office. Check what your PCC promised, see what the budget funds and compare those commitments with results in your area. When a crime policy sounds attractive, ask first whether the commissioner has the legal power and money to deliver it.