Police Crime Commissioner costs reach £100 million as officer numbers slashed

• Community police officer numbers cut by 1,200 as “pencil pushing” PCC’s pocket millions

• Surrey Commissioner pays three people to manage social media whilst Warwickshire Commissioner claims almost £500 on a hotel room

• Liberal Democrat Leader calls for Police and Crime Commissioners to be scrapped and the money put into front line policing 

An investigation by the Liberal Democrats has revealed the true costs of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs).

The party has revealed through Freedom of Information requests that PCCs have cost the taxpayer a whopping £102.2 million since 2019. This includes office costs, staff and expenses. 

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has today called on the Government to scrap “pencil pushing commissioners” amid falling community officer numbers. Since 2019, England and Wales has lost a staggering 1,284 community police officers, despite tens of millions spent on PCCs. 

The costs of the country’s PCCs could have funded an additional estimated 3,830 community officers (average salary £26,634).

Of the 26 police forces who responded with accessible data, the most costly PCCs in England since 2019 were West Midlands (£7.9m) and Hampshire (£7.4m). Since 2019, the Conservative Commissioner in Hampshire has overseen a fall in the number of community officers as money flows into their office. 

Meanwhile, Plaid’s PCC has cost the Welsh taxpayer over £12 million since 2019. 

The Conservative Commissioner for Thames Valley charged the taxpayer over £1 million in office costs and expenses, while community officer numbers were slashed by almost 100. 

A separate Freedom of Information Request to the Conservative Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner revealed the true horrors of taxpayer money being wasted. Since 2021, the Surrey Commissioner has had three staff members to run her office social media feeds. The Commissioner has increased the office costs since being elected by an eye-watering £180,000 - the equivalent to seven community police officers. Since the Commissioner was elected, Surrey has also seen a fall in community officer numbers (39).

In the expenses files provided to the Liberal Democrats, the details of expenses have also been revealed. The Labour Commissioner for Warwickshire claimed almost £500 on a hotel in London, to attend a meeting with fellow commissioners.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“These pencil pushing commissioners need to be scrapped now. Why on earth is taxpayers’ money funding social media over bobbies on the beat? 

“It is a scandal that officer numbers have been cut around the country whilst these anonymous politicians pocket millions to run their office.  

“When most crimes in this country are going unsolved, it is the biggest waste of money to be funding their pointless roles. All that money should be given to the front line to fund new police officers. 

“The gravy train has to stop for these pointless commissioners. The public want a return to proper community policing and that should be the Home Secretary’s top priority.” 

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

First reported by The Sun and LBC

House of Commons Library Data on Police & Community Support Officer (PCSO) since 2015:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1755ZPLss0Jvn63NSb3oswMFtH0n62KFva1gvUgz7lGc/edit#gid=0