LGiU launch four tests for police accountability » Communities » 24dash.com

The LGiU has set out four tests to apply against proposals to increase police accountability.

The four tests are based on the proposals set out in the units consultation document, Getting to the heart of local accountability, launched in June. The tests will assess the strength of the green papers proposals for increasing police accountability. The newly designed tests come ahead of the LGiU's conference on police accountability. The conference Police Accountability: Sheriffs, Mayors or Partnership Chairs? will be held on Tuesday 9 September at the Congress Centre. Home Office Minister for Security, Counter-Terrorism, Crime and Policing Tony McNulty MP will give the keynote speech.

LGiU chief executive Andy Sawford said: "The argument has been won that we need stronger local democratic leadership for policing. The Flanagan review of policing identified police accountability as a key decision for ministers, and we are confident that responsibility will not be sidestepped.

The tests put forward by the LGiU are:

Test 1: More democratic
There is one litmus test for democracy, and that is voter turnout. Will proposals reverse the decline in participation in elections at the local level, or will proposals further confuse and alienate the public?

Test 2: More joined up
To tackle crime we must equally tackle the other problems in society that link to crime such as education, housing and health. We must also have joined up services that deter crime, such as licensing, activities for teenagers and town planning. Do proposals encourage local services to deliver holistically?

Test 3: More local
Neighbourhood policing is widely regarded as one of the great recent successes of policing. Do proposals help embed neighbourhood policing and help get policing closer to local communities?

Test 4: More efficient
All public services are committed to providing better services at lower cost. Do proposals offer the most streamlined and efficient way of delivering the benefits of democracy, joined up working and localism?

Sawford said: The case for having elected representatives at the local level who can respond to local people's priorities for crime and be accountable for policing to tackle crime, was hammered home in Louise Casey's Crime and Communities Review. Sixty-eight per cent of the public believe that there should be a person elected by local people to hold the police to account on behalf of the community.

"But not all forms of local democracy are equally effective, he added. To ensure that the proposals in the green paper help rather than hinder the cause of local democracy and improved local services, we have set our four tests for any new proposals. Local policing should be more democratic, but it should also be efficient, joined up and closer to communities."

For further information about the LGiU policing conference, click here.