Did you know there were PCC elections? by Elginfire Consulting

Britain’s best kept polling secret:

With increased numbers of Conservative police and crime commissioners newly elected across the country, is the stage now set for them to take on governance of fire and rescue services? Political Editor Catherine Levin provides a round-up of this year’s PCC elections

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Did you know there were PCC elections?

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uper Thursday saw a swathe of elections across the UK on May 6, from the Scottish Parliament, to the Welsh Assembly, elected mayors and many local councils too. Most of these had been put off from 2020, as local democracy became another victim of the pandemic. There was much less attention paid to the police and crime commissioner elections held on the same day. Waiting another year, giving PCCs a five-year term instead of the normal four-year tenure, 39 PCC positions were up for grabs across England and Wales. There are 43 PCCs but three of them are also elected mayors: London, Manchester and West Yorkshire. There is also the anomaly of the City of London, but that is another story. Remember of course that of the 39 PCCs, four of them already have responsibility for fire, making them police, fire and crime commissioners. The PFCCs for Essex and Northamptonshire both stood for re-election while the PFCCs for North Yorkshire and Staffordshire did not. Unlike Westminster elections, PCCs are elected using the supplementary vote system. This means that people can make a first and a second choice. If no candidate gets more than 50 per cent of the first-choice votes, all except the top two candidates are eliminated. At that stage, the second votes of those residents whose first choice has been eliminated are counted. The government is considering legislating to change this next time to first past the post.

PFCC Performance So, how did the PFCCs do? In Essex, Conservative candidate Roger Hirst was after a third term in office. There are no term limits for PCCs, so he could be around for a long time. He was re-elected with a comfortable 236,346 votes, way ahead of his Labour rival, who got 99,712 votes. Speaking after his re-election, Roger said: “This is a sobering level of endorsement from the people of Essex. I am grateful that they are clearly appreciating what we have been doing over the past five years. We are improving the culture of the fire and rescue service with a focus on prevention and protection. It is really exciting that this programme has been endorsed by the public of Essex.” Conservative Stephen Mold was elected Northamptonshire PCC in 2016 and became PFCC in January 2019. He won the 2021 election with 102,752 votes, more than double his Labour rival on a turnout of 34.8 per cent. After the announcement of his re-election, Stephen Mold emphasised the collaboration between police and fire. He said: “Our two, vital emergency services are working more closely than ever before and already share buildings and support: I will expect them to embrace closer working on every level, to better protect people and promote safety in Northamptonshire.”

“Our two, vital emergency services are working more closely than ever before and already share buildings and support: I will expect them to embrace closer working on every level, to better protect people and promote safety in Northamptonshire” Northamptonshire PCC Stephen Mold

June 2021

www.fire–magazine.com

Fire & Emergency Response

“I will certainly be looking for more opportunities to share resources between police and fire and rescue services”

Police and Crime Commissioner Election Results 2012-2021

2012

Northumbria

Conservative

Labour

Plaid Cymru

Independent

North Yorkshire Humberside

Lancashire

West Yorkshire

Merseyside

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St aﬀ s.

Leicestershire

West Mid s

West Mercia

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Cambs.

Plaid Cymru

Labour

Independent

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Devon and Cornwall

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Thames Valley

Wiltshire

Essex

Surrey

Hampshire

Kent

Sussex

Dorset

Note: PCC elections were not held in London where an elected Mayor (or an appointed deputy) also fulﬁlls the role of PCC

Gwent

Conservatives

South Wales

Suﬀolk

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Police and Crime Commissioner Election Results 2012-2021 Labour

Plaid Cymru

Independent

North Yorkshire

Sta ﬀs .

krwic Wa hire s

Dyfed-Powys

Plaid Cymru

South Wales

d an t on rse Av me So

r No

Norfolk

ts.

Suﬀolk

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Thames Valley

Wiltshire

Essex

Surrey

Hampshire

Kent

Sussex

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Police and Crime Commissioner Election Results 2012-2021

2021

Northumbria

Conservative

Labour

Plaid Cymru

Independent

Cleveland

Durham

Cumbria

North Yorkshire Humberside

Lancashire Merseyside

Leicestershire

West Mid s

ick rw Wa hire s

Dyfed-Powys

Conservatives

Labour

Plaid Cymru

South Wales

Gwent

Devon and Cornwall

Wiltshire Hampshire

Cambs. Suﬀolk

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r He

Thames Valley

d an t on rse Av me So

Independent

Note: PCC elections were not held in London, Greater Manchester or West Yorkshire where elected Mayors (or an appointed deputy) also fulﬁll the role of PCC

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Norfolk

r No

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West Mercia

Lincolnshire

No tts .

hir

St aﬀ s.

Cheshire

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North Wales

South Yorks.

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Cambs.

Dorset

Devon and Cornwall

Note: PCC elections were not held in London or Greater Manchester where elected Mayors (or an appointed deputy) also fulﬁll the role of PCC

s. uc

Glo

Gwent

Independent

Leicestershire

West Mid s

West Mercia

Lincolnshire

No tts .

Cheshire

Be ds .

North Wales

ire

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South Yorks. sh

Labour

Humberside

West Yorkshire

Merseyside

Conservatives

Cleveland

Durham

Cumbria

Lancashire

2016

Northumbria

Conservative

r De

Pa v

Norfolk

rth

Dyfed-Powys

Lincolnshire

Cheshire

No tts .

rb De

North Wales

South Yorks.

Greater Manchester

Staffordshire PCC Ben Adams

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service used to be part of the Northamptonshire County Council but after years of financial mismanagement, the government split the county of Northamptonshire into two unitary authorities (West and North Northamptonshire). Both of these held their first elections on May 6 and now have solid Conservative majorities. Matthew Ellis did not stand for a third term in Staffordshire and the Conservatives retained control with Ben Adams elected with 136,024 votes, more than double that of his Labour rival. The turnout in Staffordshire was 28 per cent. Ben Adams has a solid political background having twice run to be an MP and spent 15 years in local politics as a local councilor. In his manifesto, Ben Adams promised to provide more cash for frontline police and fire. He committed to better ways to use technology and improve operating practices; to collaborating with other blue light services, local councils and health authorities. He added: “I will certainly be looking for more opportunities to share resources between police and fire and rescue services. Sharing modern, low-cost buildings within easy reach of our major networks not only saves money but provides a much more effective working environment.” Chief Fire Officer Becci Bryant confirmed a short time ago that she will be retiring in October, so one of the PFCC’s early jobs will be to find a replacement CFO. Julia Mulligan has been waiting for a year to end her time as PFCC for North Yorkshire. She was recently appointed by the Home Secretary to be the new Chair of the Police Advisory Board for England and Wales. The Board focuses on recruitment, diversity and collaboration between police forces. She starts this three-year post from May 13. Philip Allott was elected as PFCC for North Yorkshire with a solid majority over Labour with 83,737 votes. Like Ben Adams, Philip Allott also stood unsuccessfully for a Westminster seat and has a long history in local politics. Speaking after the election result, he said: “I am not going to shy away from talking to government to make sure we get the funding, because at the moment the funding formula from government discriminates against North Yorkshire.” He added that he would be looking at ways to increase funding for the fire service through changes to the precept. In March, Andrew Brodie announced he would be stepping down as Chief Fire Officer for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. The recruitment for his replacement is due to start shortly. Speaking to the local newspaper, The Press, Andrew said: “Leading North Yorkshire Fire and

Cleveland

Durham

Cumbria

Surrey

Essex

Kent

Sussex

Dorset

Images courtesy of Policing Insight

Rescue Service is an immense privilege but, after 31 years working within and supporting the Fire Service across the country, I have an opportunity to take up a new challenge elsewhere in the UK in a completely different line of work, which I am keen to pursue.” There is no indication of what that might be. www.fire–magazine.com

June 2021

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“I support the reform of the emergency services including the way fire services are governed in West Mercia” West Mercia PCC John Campion

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changed his mind and said he would continue working with Hertfordshire County Council, the home of fire as part of a county-wide collaboration effort. He won a third term in office and will no doubt be pleased to see any proposals by the government to see fire come under all PCCs in the future. In June 2020, the Fire Minister wrote to the PCC for Cambridgeshire and told him he would need to present a new case after the 2021 PCC elections. PCC Ray Bisby did not stand for re-election in 2021 having only been in office for two years after the sudden resignation of Jason Ablewhite. The Conservative candidate, Darryl Preston, got 114.053 votes but Labour was not that far behind with 102,195. Turnout was 36.2 per cent. There was no mention of fire governance on Darryl Preston’s campaign website. Norfolk PCC Lorne Green consulted the public about taking on fire governance and then announced in November 2018 that he would not be taking it any further. The marvelously named Giles Orpen-Smellie stood as the Conservative candidate for the 2021 election and won a total vote share of 63.3 per cent on a turnout of 32.9 per cent. He showed no interest in fire during his campaign. The PCCs for Lancashire, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and Suffolk all showed an early interest in fire governance and all bowed out before consulting the public. One final thought about West Yorkshire, where Tracy Brabin became the first woman metro Mayor and also became the PCC. In London and in nearby Manchester, the Mayor has responsibility for police and fire, which makes West Yorkshire’s arrangements odd. Perhaps this anomaly will be sorted out and that will be one less fire and rescue authority for the government to deal with.

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PFCC Future Whether there will be more PFCCs in the future depends on a few things. First, what the government says about fire governance in the imminent Fire Reform White Paper. The review of PCCS came out earlier this year and made it clear that the future of fire and rescue authorities was in doubt (see last month’s issue of FIRE). It is a huge task to move from the current mixture of governance models to a single or PCC/Mayor model and would likely require primary legislation. Whether the government has the appetite and parliamentary time to do this is unclear, particularly when the Building Safety Bill is going to concentrate their minds for at least the next year. It also depends on whether, white paper permitting, the PCCs who have previously shown an interest in taking on fire decide to revitalise their bids. Two PCCs had to stop their efforts to take on fire and wait for these elections. In May 2019, Gloucestershire’s Independent PCC, Martin Surl, was told by the Fire Minister that he would have to wait until after the PCC elections to get any decision from government on his business case. Interestingly, there was no mention of fire in his campaign materials, so it was hard to judge if he had the same level of determination. It is all academic now, as Martin Surl came in third behind the Conservatives and Labour in Gloucestshire. Retired army officer Chris Nelson won the election for the Conservatives. The turnout was a massive 40.9 per cent, way up on the 2016 election. And in West Mercia, Conservative PCC John Campion was stymied for a while by a judicial review against the government’s decision to support his bid to become PFCC. The two fire and rescue authorities in his area, Shropshire and Hereford and Worcestershire, fought hard against the move to the PFCC arrangements and it all went quiet in the run up to the 2020 elections. Then the pandemic happened. John Campion was undaunted and in his 2021 manifesto, he stated: ‘I support the reform of the emergency services including the way fire services are governed in West Mercia. I believe they should work ever closer together to deliver increases in efficiency and effectiveness, as well as greater collaboration with West Mercia Police. I believe this is only likely to be achieved with maximum effect by the creation of a Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in West Mercia’. Re-elected for the second time, John Campion received 179,411 votes, 100,000 more than his Labour opponent. Fire governance is clearly in his sights but whether it has to wait until the white paper is revealed is unclear. The road to PFCCs has been a long one and there have been many casualties along the way. Here is a quick look at who else might be taking a second look at fire. David Lloyd is the PCC for Hertfordshire and went as far as submitting his business case for taking on fire in the summer of 2018. Within a couple of months, he had

June 2021

www.fire–magazine.com

PCC Blue Wave Overall, the 2021 election resulted in a blue wave over police governance with 29 Conservative PCCs now in office. This is likely to increase to 30 when the Wiltshire election is re-run. The Conservative candidate had to resign on the day of the count after an old driving offence emerged and barred him from holding office. There are 11 Labour PCCs and one Plaid Cymru PCC. That is a whistle stop tour around the 2021 PCC elections. It is good to see turnout is up this year after a miserable start in 2012 when the election was held in November. It really helps if PCC elections are run alongside other council elections. It is no surprise that fire hardly featured in the non-PFCC campaign materials, as the Conservative candidates will know that the Fire Reform White Paper could change everything and Labour has shown no interest in PCCs taking on fire. These PCCs are in office for three years to account for the extra year forced by the pandemic. Maybe 2024 will see elections for 39 police, fire and crime commissioners. Now that would be radical.