Forum Brief: Police accountability

The government is considering plans to allow local people to vote for their local policing representatives.

Announcing the new approach, detailed in a green paper on Tuesday, the home secretary said he wanted to improve the accountability and operational effectiveness of local police boards.

Mark Oaten, home affairs spokesman, said: "More bobbies not more ballots is what people want from the home secretary. His idea of directly elected police authorities will offer little comfort to victims of crime.

"It is unlikely that the public will vote in large numbers and new authorities will separate the police away from Government when they should be getting more involved with local authorities, social services and other public services.

"Whilst his instinct to devolve is good in practice, the home secretary could have made more impact by giving existing police authorities and chief constables more to do and Whitehall less."

Forum Response: Local Government Association

Sir Jeremy Beecham, chair of the Local Government Association, said: "We hope this consultation kicks off a vigorous debate about improving police accountability. Many of the options in the document need to be discussed.

"Local authorities, working in local strategic partnerships, should have a central role. Community safety is not just a police responsibility but a shared one involving the whole range of public services - most of which are provided by local councils.

"We believe that directly electing representatives to serve on a range of fragmented public bodies would blur rather than improve local accountability.

"We are willing to explore options that will ensure councillors, with their unique broad remit to secure the well being of local people, can help improve police accountability to the public and engage the community in this process."