Overview
- Forty-one PCCs will remain in post until their terms end in 2028, with elections under the current model cancelled thereafter.
- Powers will move to directly elected mayors where they exist, while council leaders will oversee new police and crime boards elsewhere, including in Wales.
- The Home Office projects savings of at least £100 million this Parliament and around £20 million annually, with funds earmarked for neighbourhood policing, roughly equivalent to about 320 constables a year.
- Ministers cite low voter engagement and awareness, saying turnout was under a quarter in 2024 and two in five people did not know PCCs exist, alongside concerns about weakened accountability and effects on chief constable recruitment.
- The APCC warns of a potential accountability gap and the Conservative opposition brands the move ‘tinkering’, with a wider Policing White Paper promised in the coming weeks.