Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson says he is glad that 'distractions' over the future of his position are over, after proposals to transfer powers for policing to the mayor were rejected.

While the mayor himself says he is 'disappointed' with the decision, adding that he hopes it can be reconsidered in future.

On Friday (March 22) the board of the WMCA voted to reject proposals to transfer powers for policing to the office of the mayor in time for the 2020 mayoral elections.

By a vote of nine to five, council leaders ultimately decided that there were too many question marks around the legitimacy of the public consultation, after mayor Andy Street was embroiled in accusations of cheating. The vote was largely along party lines, with Labour representatives voting against the proposals and Conservatives voting for them.

Current PCC David Jamieson will not be running again in 2020 himself, but was opposed to the proposals for the majority of the process.

David Jamieson, Police and Crime Commissioner for West Midlands

Speaking after the vote today said he was glad that the issue had been put to bed, allowing both he and the mayor to 'focus on their day jobs'.

"I'm glad this issue is over, and both of us, the mayor and myself, can both now get on with our day jobs.

"This has been a huge distraction for policing and police governance, and at the moment the chief constable does not need any distractions. We have so many things going on at the moment, and uncertainty is not what he needs, it’s not what I need.

"I think that what’s really unfortunate is that there was consensus but then the mayor very clearly party politicised it, with the vast amount of leaflets that he put out. And inevitably that’s going to annoy some of his political opponents.

"I think the other thing as well is that the clear politicisation within the mayor's own office has caused a worry, certainly for me, and it’s caused a worry for a lot of people who voted today.

"So I’m glad now that it’s been laid to rest - I think it’s now up to whoever is going to be PCC and whoever is going to be mayor in 2020 to decide what the way forward might be."

Mayor Andy Street

Mayor Andy Street was cleared of any wrongdoing in the Twitter scandal which emerged earlier this month, though question marks remained during the meeting over the extent to which cheating had taken place during the consultation.

However, in a statement made after the meeting, Mr Street said that the public consultation was a request from the board in the first place, adding that it 'overwhelmingly' supported combining the two positions.

"I am disappointed that some members of the WMCA Board chose to vote down the proposal to merge the roles of mayor and the PCC," he said.

"This is a model that works in Manchester and London and was a part of the second Devolution Deal signed with Government.

Screen shot of the Twitter exchange from Mayor Andy Street's account

“The public consultation was a request from the WMCA Board, and the public were overwhelmingly in favour of the proposal.

“I still believe a combined mayor and PCC role would allow for more joined up working, a single accountable figure in the region and would put preventing crime at the heart of WMCA activities.

“Naturally therefore I regret the decision today which comes despite previous cross-party support for the principle of the merger.

“I hope the board will reconsider today’s decision in the future."