Remember the days before 2012, when police oversight was handled by something called the Police Authority? Most people didn’t know who sat on it, but at least it was a committee of councillors and lay members who turned up, shuffled papers, and kept vaguely within budget.
Then came the great reform: one elected Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) who would give the people “a voice in policing.” Democracy on steroids, we were told. A single neck to wring, a local champion to fight our corner. Ten years on, the reality looks rather different.
– 2011/12 (Police Authority era): West Mercia’s net budget requirement was about £205.6 million.
– 2025/26 (PCC era): that figure has climbed to £302.7 million – a 47% rise in fourteen years.
– Along the way, the PCC model added its own extras: elections costing £75 million nationally in 2012 and nearly £50 million again in 2016.
How many extra Bobbies would that put on our streets?
Then vs Now: The Bill
And the PCC’s own office? Far from being a man with a briefcase, the Commissioner today commands around 75 staff — governance officers, estate managers, commissioning teams — with the Office spending about 8% of the total policing budget.
What Do They All Do?
That’s the question no one dares to ask.
Officially:
– Scrutinise the Chief Constable
– Manage estates (police stations, buildings)
– Commission victim services
– Review complaints
– Run communications, policy and finance functions
Unofficially, it feels like:
– Replicating functions already done by the force
– Growing a mini-civil service nobody voted for; 75 staff at the last headcount.
– Soaking up funds while frontline policing still claims it’s “under pressure”
The Timeline of Command
– 2012 – PCC role created. Independent Bill Longmore takes office.
– 2016 – Conservative John Campion elected; still in post.
– Chief Constables since 2012: David Shaw (The best of them), Anthony Bangham, Pippa Mills, a carousel of “temporary” chiefs, and now Richard Cooper (finally confirmed in 2025 after the Kyle Gordon fiasco collapsed in public).
Each new PCC or Chief Constable arrives with promises of “accountability” or “neighbourhood focus.” Each departs leaving a bigger office, a higher bill, and an electorate that can’t quite remember their name.
Quango, Meet Democracy
The irony is thick:
– We abolished an obscure Police Authority quango only to replace it with… an even larger, better-resourced quango.
– We were promised clear accountability; instead we have blurred lines, political spats, and office staff whose job descriptions require an A-Z to decode.
– We were told costs would fall; they’ve risen.
– We were told there would be extra police patrolling our streets: we haven’t
If West Mercia is typical, the PCC system looks less like a revolution and more like a rebadged bureaucracy — the Biggest Quango You Never See.
Commissioner Watch Begins
This blog series will track:
– Budgets and staff costs of the PCC office
– Operational decisions versus PR spin
– The gap between rhetoric and frontline policing
Because if democracy is to mean anything, the Commissioner must be watched as closely as the criminals.
What would happen if we woke up one morning and this quango had disappeared overnight – Just a thought.
The Alternative Council 