PSI Press Release

Press Release

REFORMED POLICE AUTHORITIES ‘MORE ACTIVE AND INFLUENTIAL’

Local police authorities are being re-invigorated as a result of the Police and Magistrates’ Courts Act (1994), despite criticisms that the original Bill represented an attack on democratic accountability.

The first major study of police accountability in England and Wales since the 1994 Act is published today by the independent Policy Studies Institute. It found that the most criticised aspects of the Act - the reduction in police authority size and the introduction of appointed ‘independent’ members - have made police authorities ‘more active and influential.’ Rather than increasing central control, many forces and police authorities have used local policing plans to introduce a range of local police objectives, including crime prevention and quality of life issues such as traffic and road safety.

The report, Policing After the Act, by Trevor Jones and Tim Newburn, is based on an analysis of all published policing plans and a survey of all provincial police authorities in England and Wales. This was supplemented by in-depth case studies of the reforms in three English police forces.

The key change, according to the authors, has been the statutory requirement laid upon police authorities to publish a local policing plan, with details of objectives and targets for the coming year. Local planning has not been hampered by the introduction of national policing objectives set by the Home Secretary, as had been feared by some commentators. In practice, national objectives have proved uncontroversial and for many authorities and forces provide a useful framework to which they can add issues of local concern.

Despite this re-invigoration, however, the report suggests that the potential remains for damaging central interference. Considerable powers remain in the hands of the Home Secretary and further reform is required to protect national objective-setting from arbitrary political interference. And although the addition of non-elected members has been a largely positive development, a democratic deficit remains: for while many police authorities are now more effective decision-making bodies, the numbers of councillors in some cases are insufficient to represent adequately the areas covered. The authors recommend slight increases in police authority size and the replacement of magistrate members by elected councillors.

Although the introduction of local policing plans has provided a much-needed focus for the activities of local police authorities, these plans remain largely police-driven. Police authorities need to take a more active approach to consulting the public in their areas over policing priorities and take a more proactive role in the planning process in order to help their forces direct resources to areas of most importance.

Among the key findings of the research:

the introduction of national objectives has proved rather uncontentious in practice. The five objectives (which cover violent crime, burglary, local crime problems, response to calls and reassuring the public) appear to accord with the main aims of chief constables and police authorities.
there is no direct evidence from analysis of published policing objectives of a shift towards more measurable enforcement-oriented policing. However, many police officers at the local level fear that if performance management systems are taken too far, the ‘crime-fighting’ model of policing will come to dominate.
clerks of shire police authorities reported that the reforms had made their authorities much more active and influential. This was related to the smaller size of the authorities, the introduction of independent members and especially the requirement to produce a local policing plan.
although the introduction of independent members was one of the more controversial aspects of the reforms, the research found that on most police authorities such members were accepted by the wider police authority and were playing a full and useful part in authority business. There was little evidence of widespread central political interference in the process of selecting independent members.

The authors conclude that the dramatic negative effects of the reforms predicted by some commentators have not yet materialised. However, there are indications that police authorities are beginning to explore ways of becoming more involved in the drafting of local policing plans and that they are taking their responsibility for local consultation more seriously than has been the case in the past. This may well lead to disagreements with chief constables who wish to guard their ‘operational independence.’

Trevor Jones said: ‘The dire consequences of the reforms predicted by some commentators have clearly not materialised. Local police authorities have remained ‘local’ and have in many cases become more active and influential. However, there is arguably still room for a more ambitious approach on the part of police authorities, particularly with regard to the production of the policing plan.’

Tim Newburn said: ‘Unlikely as it might once have seemed, it appears that the reforms initiated by Kenneth Clarke have begun to reinvigorate police authorities. However, a democratic deficit remains. If police authorities are to be fully effective in representing local interests and concerns, then further changes to increase the number of elected members on authorities and to encourage innovative forms of consultation with communities will need to be introduced.’

Contact:

Trevor Jones at the University of Edinburgh on 0131 650 2032

Tim Newburn at PSI on 0171 468 2247

Notes for Editors:

Policing After the Act is available from Grantham Books on 01476 541080, priced Ł14.95.
The Police and Magistrates’ Courts Act (1994) was a series of reforms initiated by Conservative Home Secretaries Kenneth Clarke and Michael Howard. The reforms were much criticised by representatives of the police service and local government, as well as senior Labour politicians. The key changes brought about by the Act were: the introduction of annual national objectives and performance indicators, set by the Home Secretary; a reduction in the size of police authorities and reduction of elected member influence, with the introduction of appointed ‘lay members’; requirement for police authorities to publish an annual local policing plan laying out details of national and local objectives, indicators and performance targets.
Trevor Jones is lecturer in Criminology at the University of Edinburgh and was a senior research fellow at the Policy Studies Institute when the research was carried out. Dr. Tim Newburn is Head of Crime, Justice and Youth Studies at the Policy Studies Institute.
PSI is a registered educational charity (no 313819) and is not associated with any political party, pressure group or commercial interest.