Who Is Holding Our Police To Account? Not the Elected PCC for one...

 

The Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Website

The Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Police is currently Andy Marsh. He is not supposed to be a political figure, but a servant of the public - a civil servant. The Police is not the same as a council, or Government, but that is what he is supposed to be - outside politics and that is what the majority of the public want.

Mr Marsh regularly claims that his Constabulary polices us citizens by "consent" of the public. This is supposed to be a long-held principle of policing in England. Mr Marsh was brought in after the previous Chief Constable was removed.

• But what happens if you are unhappy with the Police? You can lodge a complaint.
• What happens if you do not like their priorities for policing?
  
• And what happens if you are unhappy about how Police money is spent?
• What if you think they are spending public money on the wrong things?
  
• Who do you contact?

Do you write to your MP? Maybe you could, as some of the Police budget comes from the Government. Other parts of the budget come out of your council tax. Did you know that? It is there on your council tax bill, dropping onto your doorstep now or soon.

The vast majority of Somerset residents believe that "politics" should stay out of policing. Whether they perceive "politics" as meaning Westminster party politics, or just the general definition of all politics, is not clear. What does it mean in practise?

Instead of keeping politics out of policing, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition Government during 2010 to 2015 (David Cameron and Nick Clegg) had an idea.

Despite public opinion, they brought politics into policing.

They brought in the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), a person that is elected.

In the first elections, the turnout was incredibly low. It was a cold November. The legitimacy of the PCC is questionable because of this low turnout. Turnout was higher in the second elections, but they coincided with other elections. 

The fact is that the vast majority of people did not vote in the PCC elections and their legitimacy and accountability is seriously under question.

During those elections, the current incumbent PCC Sue Mountstevens, claimed that she wanted to keep politics out of policing. She stood as an Independent. You would think that Somerset Independents would support that. In principle, we do. But not all independents are the same, as we have already made clear on this website. Somerset Independents holds all elected representatives to account.

So has Ms Mountstevens done what she promised - kept politics separate? The evidence suggests that she has not.

Our Leader Andrew Pope spoke at the Police and Crime Panel. It is supposed to hold the PCC to account. He reports:

Andrew Pope
Leader of Somerset Independents

"At that virtual meeting, they considered the PCC's Budget. I asked them to refuse it. They did, but then when I was not there for the follow-up, they caved in to the PCC.

It is important to note that it is Ms Mountstevens' Budget, and not the Chief Constable's Budget.

Yet during the meeting, Ms Mountstevens pressured the Chief Constable to give a presentation on the PCC's Budget. It should be the PCC presenting it, not the Chief Constable. Ms Mountstevens, by doing this, politicised the Police.

This is doing what Ms Mountstevens promised that she would not do. She is putting the Chief Constable in a position that he should not be in - a political position on how public money is spent and whether the public should pay more.

As a former public servant and a former councillor, I feel for Mr Marsh that he was asked to do this. And I understand from former Panel members of the Police and Crime Panel that this is something that has crept in over time.

Ms Mountstevens is elected and she needs to answer to the public.

Something is wrong with how Ms Mountstevens has been a PCC. She is not standing in the May 2021 PCC elections, which is probably for the best given the circumstances. Ms Mountstevens has been dogged by controversy.

All the Police and Crime Panel are party politicians, except for one.

Independent Panel members are missing. There is just one, and the three other roles have remained empty. The public need to know why. Two Independent Panel members resigned in protest. We have their resignations in full and with their permission, we will be publishing them. The public need explanations. But Ms Mountstevens is leaving.

I hope that any future PCC will stop putting politics into policing. 

To what extent that is possible and will be possible, given that the role itself is political, remains to be seen. Perhaps they should be scrapped altogether? 

I have been listening to a group of residents including former Panel members, potential candidates and a former PCC candidate, as to what their views are.

I have also been speaking to current and former police officers about it.

I would be interested to hear from members of the public as to their views on this matter.

Somerset Independents mostly focus on Somerset. But if you live in the "Avon" area - South Gloucestershire, Bristol and Bath, feel free to get in touch too.

Somerset Independents will continue to hold those in power to account - including those independents who we feel are not worthy of the name."

Standing Up For Somerset's Residents