Wales
What role does the National Assembly play?
Responsibility for policing and governance in Wales is reserved to the UK government. However, at the time when the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill was introduced in Parliament, the National Assembly had legislative competence over matters relating to oversight and scrutiny committees of local government authorities.
Since the National Assembly did not consent to the Bill allowing PCPs in Wales to be local authority committees (as is the case in England), the Bill was amended. It now includes a different model for Welsh PCPs, where a PCC will be scrutinised by a PCP established by the Secretary of State but formed of local elected representatives.
How will PCPs be formed in Wales?
In Wales a PCP will be a free-standing body, formed and maintained by the Home Secretary, and therefore outside the legislative competence of the National Assembly.
PCPs in Wales will have identical functions, powers and duties to those in England ? it will just be the way in which they are formed and maintained that will differ.
The Home Secretary will invite local authorities across a police area to nominate members for the PCP. In the absence of nominations, the Home Secretary will herself select members of the local authorities who she will invite to take part.
What is the status of a PCP in Wales?
A PCP in Wales is not a local authority committee but is a free-standing public body set up and maintained by the Secretary of State in accordance with Sch.6 to the Police and Social Responsibility Act 2011.
It is an unincorporated association - that is a body of people with no corporate legal personality separate from that of its members.
The functions of a PCP in Wales are those set out in the Act and are the same as those of a PCP in England.
What is the status of decisions made by the PCP in Wales?
The Act confers various functions on PCPs. A decision of the PCP as to how to exercise those functions is a decision of the PCP. It is not a decision of the Home Secretary, local authorities or anyone else.Does the PCP power to veto the precept undermine the role of Welsh Government in capping precept?
Other than replacing police authorities with PCCs as major precepting authorities and making provision for PCPs to scrutinise the PCCs' precept in accordance with Sch.5, the Act does not make any change to the Local Government Finance Act 1992 as amended.
The 1992 Act provisions on capping is that they are identical for Wales as for England, except that powers are conferred on Welsh Ministers rather than the Secretary of State. Therefore Welsh Ministers would continue to have their current capping powers and the PCC would need to be mindful of these when setting the precept.
What is the position of councillors acting in a voluntary capacity on PCPs?
Being a councillor is what makes the person eligible for appointment to a PCP, but the person does not act in their capacity as a councillor for a local authority when serving on the PCP.
Serving on the PCP is not part of their local authority duties, any more than if they were appointed to any other public office in tandem with being a councillor.
Any legal liability of a member of a PCP arising from the exercise of the PCP's functions is borne by the Home Secretary and not the member.