2016 PCC elections: Theresa May on why everyone should turn out to vote for crime chiefs

Here Home Secretary Theresa May writes for the Express & Star and what PCCs have achieved and why you should vote.

When I first became Home Secretary nearly six years ago, just one in fifteen people knew that police authorities even existed.

These authorities were meant to hold to police forces to account but instead they were invisible committees of appointed councillors who held public meeting that were barely attended and made decisions that were communicated to the public through obscure minutes in forgotten corners of their websites.

What we had was a system of police governance that was broken. Theoretically authorities acted on behalf of the public and had a duty to engage local people and businesses in setting priorities and local taxes, but in practice, as readers of the Express & Star will know all too well, they did nothing of the sort.

It was no surprise then that in 2010, an inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary found that only four of the twenty two police authorities inspected were judged to have performed well in two of their primary functions – setting strategic direction and ensuring value for money for taxpayers.

We brought in Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to be accountable to their communities. These elected individuals would be more visible and accessible than what came before.

Since their inception in 2012, PCCs have engaged with the public in ways that police authorities failed to do. They've receive upwards of 7,000 pieces of correspondence every month and their websites have been visited by over 85,000 people - and that's without taking into account frequent coverage of their views and initiatives in papers like the Express & Star.

With this engagement initiatives have developed that are targeted directly to the needs of the local community. In the West Midlands the PCC, working in conjunction with British Transport Police and local transport companies, has launched a three year plan to combat crime and antisocial behaviour on public transport. In West Mercia the PCC has formed a strategic alliance with Warwickshire, allowing the forces to combine and share resources and ensure 24-hour cover across more policing functions, and in Staffordshire the PCC has issued all front-line officers with either a tablet or a smartphone in order to free up an estimated 250,000 hours of police time a year.

What is being done locally in your area is also taken place right around the country. It is the sort of leadership that simply didn't exist prior to PCCs being introduced.

And there is scope to go further, in the future you may see the role of your PCC expand to include governance of other services. The Policing and Crime Bill contains a provision enable PCCs, provided a local case is made, to take on responsibilities for fire and rescue services and even create a single employer for the two services.

What the PCC role will look like in the future is still up for discussion. In Government, we have been exploring what role PCCs could play in the wider criminal justice system. There is after all a reason why we included the words 'and crime' in the titles of PCCs.

In their first term in office, PCCs have, according to the independent Crime Survey for England and Wales, presided over a reduction in crime of more than a quarter. They've achieved this during a time when police funding has reduced by a fifth.

There is no doubt that achievements like this matter, not just to the local community who directly benefits, but they matter for the integrity of policing as a whole. Because if the historic principle of policing by consent is to be maintained then what better way of doing that than through the ballot box. If your PCC is running again and has impressed you, then you are free to vote for them to continue their work. Conversely if you believe your PCC hasn't delivered what they promised, you can say so in the strongest terms possible. The choice is yours

For more information about the election please go to www.choosemypcc.org.uk or call 0800 1070708