Preparing for police and crime commissioners

On 15 November 2012, elections for police and crime commissioners (PCCs) will be held across England and Wales. PCCs will hold chief constables to account for policing in their force area on behalf of the public. New police and crime panels will scrutinise the actions and decisions of each PCC and make sure information is available for the public, enabling them to hold the PCC to account. Police authorities will cease to exist.

Between April and June 2012, HMIC made an interim assessment of how prepared police authorities are for the transition to PCCs. Our report, Preparing for Police and Crime Commissioners, can be found in the police authority inspections section of this website, along with individual authority reports.