The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act came into force in November 2012.
The Act re-defines the accountability of policing to the public, replacing Police Authorities in England and Wales with a directly elected Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) covering an entire police force area.
Consultation is seeking the views and opinions of others to gain a broader understanding of the needs and experiences affecting people.
By listening to people’s views through effective dialogue, the PCC can make better informed decisions to help meet community expectations.
This strategy provides a broad framework to underpin the wide range of public consultation carried out by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. It does not include details of staff consultation activities.
The introduction of Neighbourhood Policing has strengthened the focus on increasing local communication, consultation and engagement activities to ensure that people have more involvement in their local policing, especially in terms of influencing policing priorities.
The introduction of PCCs aims to build on this by providing stronger and more transparent accountability of the police.
PCCs are elected by the public to hold chief constables and the Force to account, effectively making the police answerable to the communities they serve.
A key role for PCCs is therefore representing and engaging with local communities to help ascertain and deliver their policing priorities.
Consultation & Engagement Strategy 2017-2020 (application, 366kB)