The West Midlands Combined Authority reached a rocky compromise over the future of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) during a tense board meeting today (Friday).

Council leaders from the seven constituent authorities had been asked to agree a process for combining the position of the PCC with the mayoralty in time for the 2020 elections.

However the constituencies were unable to reach an agreement on the proposals in front of them, debating back and forth amongst themselves over the best way to proceed.

David Jamieson visits a heroin assisted treatment facility in Geneva.
West Midlands PCC David Jamieson visits a heroin assisted treatment facility in Geneva.

Eventually, following a five-minute adjournment called by Wolverhampton Council leader Roger Lawrence, an agreement was reached to continue discussions through the summer, with a goal of reconvening to reach a final agreement in September.

Presented by Dr Henry Kippin, Director of Public Service reform, the proposals had recommended an eight-week public consultation over the merger.

Dr Kippin also spoke briefly about how the proposal paper was formulated, referencing cooperation with both the PCC's office and constituent authorities.

A failure to agree on a way forward would have effectively killed the proposals, given the time constraints placed on finalising an agreement.

One Home Office official at the meeting told the board that there was very little room for manoeuvre on the timescale.

She said that they had already compromised on the amount of time needed to draft a bill, also noting that implementation of a similar process in Manchester "took five times as long".

The meeting got off to a heated start, with Councillor George Duggins of Coventry announcing that he would be opposing the deal as he was in favour of further consultations on the paper, the principles of government and the principles of operation of government.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street

And Dr Lynette Kelly, representing the PCC's office, went a step further still, saying that it was not true to claim there had been input into the process by the Police and Crime Commissioner.

"Mr Kippin I believe your use of the word input in relation to the conversations you had with our office is slightly misleading," she said.

"As I understand it there have been conversations, however the comments from our office have not been taken on board.

"We were told afterward that this was a decision the mayor had made with the Home Office. We were told of it, we were not consulted about it.

"It is our belief that the people of the West Midlands should be told why this should take place and how the functions of the PCC would be better managed by the mayor."

Turning to address the mayor directly, she added: "We have written to your office asking you to set those things out, and you have failed to respond.

"And, as far as we are concerned, democracy calls for everyone to be held to account, and that means your office.

"You need to set out why this is better for the people of the West Midlands, and you have failed to do so."

The mayor later refuted this claim, telling the board that he did not recognise the statements made by Dr Kelly, and that the PCC's office was consulted throughout the process.

Councillors Mike Bird and Patrick Harley then voiced their support for the proposals, noting that they had first been put forth in the region's second devolution deal earlier in the year.

Cllr Bird even went as far as to suggest that a failure to reach agreement on this subject could put the entire devolution deal in jeopardy.

"My concern is that if we miss this timescale then we could lose out on devolution deal two," he said.

"This for me is about the enhancement of one individual against the wider interests of the people of the West Midlands. We can not cherry pick parts of the devolution deal.

"If we are going to fall out I'd rather fall out over the economic future of the West Midlands. Not over an individual who has no concern about that economic future."

The agreement that was eventually voted on unanimously was the following:

  • Agree to the development of a Governance Review and Scheme to enable the
    proposed amalgamation of the functions of West Midlands Police and Crime
    Commissioner (PCC) into the mayoralty to enable the election to take place in 2020.
  • Agree to receive a further report on the Governance Review and Scheme at the WMCA Board on September 14, 2018.

A further condition, to "endorse the proposed plan and timetable to achieve a transparent and robust route to enable the transfer of PCC powers from one single elected official to another," was dropped.

Speaking in summary, Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward said: "All I'd ask for is recognition that the leg work needs to be done on this, so as not to end up back here in two months.

"I've always believed that compromise is the art of politics. So it's really about the willingness of all of us to find a way forward here."