During the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner election campaign last year Katy Bourne, the successful Tory candidate made it clear that if she was elected, she would be held accountable primarily through the use of the ballot box in May 2016. She reinforces this view in the latest draft of her Police and Crime plan under the heading of accountability on page 6:

“It is important to understand that engagement is a two way process. The OSPCC will use innovative ways to ensure an ongoing dialogue with the public and with partners to encourage greater public participation in determining local policing priorities. Ultimately the Commissioner will be held to account at the ballot box in May 2016.”

During the campaign Katy sopke frequently about her business background so she will be familiar with the Harvard Business Review: “One of the most sacred tenets of management is the need for clear accountability. As such, organizations spend enormous amounts of time and energy defining jobs, roles, and goals — and then figure out who to reward or punish when things go well or poorly. The assumption of course is that people will perform more effectively if they know exactly what they are supposed to accomplish and what will happen if they make or miss the target.”  Ron Ashkenas Harvard Business Review November 2012

Just as no one would wait four years to measure the performance of an employee it is inconceivable that any respectable elected official would expect to wait 4 years to be held to account for their actions. However whilst Katy’s plan refers to dialogue and engagement she does not explain how she intends to be held to account apart from those elections. Let us hope she strengthens this section in subsequent drafts of the plan.

In most political settings there are two additional forms of accountability which provide checks and balances for an office holder. Firstly the collegiate pressure from colleagues whose reputation is in the hands of the person making the decisions and secondly the role of an opposition group who will challenge and offer alternative ways of working. One of the reasons why many people did not support the change to PCCs is that this role, whilst democratically chosen, contains neither of these mechanisms. This is seen to put too much power in the hands of one person.

Katy’s Police and Crime plan includes the text:

“The Commissioner is accountable to the electorate of Sussex and her performance is scrutinised by the Sussex Police & Crime Panel to ensure that appropriate levels of transparency exist.”

It might be helpful to reflect how effectively the panel has excercised their scrutiny and how Katy has responded to it.

• The delivery (so far) against her limited modest manifesto promises
• The decision to appoint a deputy Police and Crime Commissioner
• The choice of Cllr Steve Waight as her deputy

The panel has its own views of their role “Our role is to act as a critical friend, and this is precisely what we have done in this instance. We will continue to work closely with the commissioner, and respect any decision she makes.” It is surely impossible to respect any decision that someone makes, and simultaneously to exercise of any form of  scrutiny of their actions. I am certain that this Conservative dominated panel would not have made the same comment if one of the other PCC candidates had been elected. In case my views are biased, this is what panel member Liberal Democrat Cllr Andrew Smith, wrote on his blog “Clearly, this panel is not capable of subjecting the commissioner (who remains a district councillor for Mid Sussex) to any effective scrutiny. Let’s hope the fourth estate steps up to the mark.”

One of Katy’s colleagues as PCC has his own views on the need to robustly excercise accountability. In Staffordshire Matthew Ellis the Conservative PCC is particularly concerned about this issue although not regarding his own role, but over the accountability of Police Officers. Matthew is suggesting setting up a panel of residents to consider how complaints against officers are being dealt with. Perhaps Katy might like to take a leaf out of Matthew’s book and consider submitting her actions to a mixed group of residents on a regular basis, where they have the opportunity to give her ongoing feedback. I would suggest that these are people drawn from different parts of Sussex and with a range of backgrounds. This would show that accountability really does matter to our Police Commissioner!