Prospective police chiefs join line-up

In November Bedfordshire residents will go to the polls to elect a Police And Crime Commissioner (PCC), who will take over the responsibilities currently filled by Beds Police Authority.

Adrian Heffernan and Olly Martins are hoping to get the Labour Party nomination, and local party members now have their voting papers.

And four Conservative Party candidates have also been named - Bernard Rix, Lynne Faulkner, Tom Nichols and Jas Parmar.

No Liberal Democrat candidates are known at present.

Police authorities are currently made up of a mixture of councillors and government-appointed members, and exist across the country.

According to the Home Office website, they are being phased out as “The government is committed to replacing bureaucratic accountability with democratic accountability”.

PCCs will appoint and be able to dismiss chief constables, although all other officers will be appointed by the chief constable.

After election they will set out a five-year police and crime plan, and at the end of each financial year will publish an annual report.

The PCC will also set the policing precept, which is the amount of council tax which goes towards policing each year. If the rise is more than a threshold set by the government there will have to be a local referendum for this increase.