I am honoured to be standing for the Liberal Democrats as Police Crime Commissioner for Swindon and Wiltshire and I thought I would take the opportunity to explain why I think it is so important.
Firstly, the job itself. It is unfortunate that many people are still not aware of what the PCC actually does and what they can do. The PCC is elected by the public and represents the public in everything to do with crime and disorder. I am saying this because too often I have seen PCCs actually representing the police. This is not their job.
The PCC holds the Chief Constable to account with the authority of the public. They have the power to hire and fire the Chief Constable and to direct the budget. They are not there to support or replace the Chief Constable but to support and complement good fair effective policing.
Up and down the country PCCs have led the partnerships needed to scrutinise the police, support victims of crime and anti-social behaviour, and, very importantly, to reduce crime. The police cannot do this alone. They have too much to do with too few resources anyway.
PCCs have access to funding for various government initiatives involving reducing crime, violence, and supporting victims. By working with partners, PCCs influence a wide range of funding managed by partners. PCCs are the ONLY people responsible for supporting victims and reducing offending and reoffending
In some places there has been great progress. As Head of Strategic Commissioning I was responsible for:
- Bringing in £12m per year from external funds to reduce crime and support victims
- Creating a Victims Hub, a one stop shop including all support for victims of crime and anti social behaviour. This includes updating victims on the progress of their case
- Setting up an anti-social behaviour task force and partnership
- Setting up and managing Violence Reduction Units, bringing together all partners in statutory and voluntary organisations to reduce serious crime and violence on our streets
- Aligning all Domestic Abuse contracts across local authorities resulting in one system of support, not a post code lottery
- Restorative Justice and mediation, saving huge amounts of police time having to deal with petty arguments
- Setting up and chairing the Modern Slavery Partnership with the Ports Authorities, Police and community groups. This includes the scourge of drugs and County Lines
- Ensuring community involvement through a Youth Commission and Cyber Ambassadors
- Working with prisons to deal with prison leavers thereby reducing reoffending
- Integrated Offender Management which is a partnership with the Police and Probation to deal with prolific offenders, again reducing crime and reoffending
How many of these things happen in Wiltshire? How many are working well? How good is the current Conservative PCC at letting us all know what is going on?
I have just found out as a local town councillor, that our local police station has closed and been relocated. The PCC didn’t tell me, even when he came to Amesbury a few months ago!
I want to ensure that Wiltshire and Swindon benefit from an experienced and effective PCC.
I am standing for Police and Crime Commissioner for Swindon and Wiltshire because the job is so important, and because I think I am the best candidate to take and develop the role for the people of Swindon and Wiltshire.