With one year to go before Police and Crime Commissioners take office, the call has gone out for dynamic and driven individuals to come forward as candidates.

The Home Office publicity describes the need for ‘Police and Crime Commissioners to be outstanding leaders. They will be hugely important figures and the role will be demanding and challenging. The first set of elected PCCs will be pioneers, driving through changes in relatively uncharted territory. They will need a firm resolve and commitment to engage with the public, listen and respond to their needs.

Individual Police and Crime Commissioners will be directly elected by local communities to be the voice of the people and hold the police to account on behalf of the communities they serve. The PCCs will be made up of people from all walks of life to stand and make a difference for local communities. The candidates don’t have to be politicians to stand and could be independent of political parties.

They will determine how crime fighting resources are allocated and, in many cases, be responsible for budgets of tens of millions of pounds. They will determine how much local taxpayers should pay for their police force and, in consultation with their chief constable, decide the priorities for their police force.

They will also appoint, and if necessary dismiss, the chief constable.

More information is available from the Home Office.