The role of the Police and Crime Commissioner is to ensure local priorities are aligned with police priorities by bringing together community safety and criminal justice partners. This is done by:
- holding the Chief Constable accountable for the performance of Leicestershire Police
- providing funding to services that will enhance community safety and help implement the Police and Crime Plan
Election
The latest Police and Crime Commissioner Election took place on Thursday 2 May 2024.
More information is available on the Leicester City Council website.
The next Police and Crime Commissioner elections are in May 2028.
The current PCC
The current Police and Crime Commissioner is Mr Rupert Matthews.
Mr Matthews is a member of the Conservative Party and was previously a Member of the European Parliament.
He was first elected as the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner in May 2021. Normally Police and Crime Commissioners serve a term of 4 years, but Mr Matthews served a shortened first term due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
His plan for a safer community can be found in his manifesto - Rupert Matthews.
Holding the chief constable accountable
The Police and Crime Plan sets out the strategic objectives for the Police Force and is what the Chief Constable’s performance is measured against.
The Police and Crime Plan is a legal document covering the Force area that the Police and Crime Commissioner must produce under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 | GOV.UK.
Provide funding to services
The police and crime commissioner is required to brings a proposed budget and precept to the police and crime panel (by no later than 1 February each year).
It is the role of the police and crime commissioner to set the police precept which is the proportion of council tax put towards paying for policing services locally. On your council tax notice, it will be marked as a payment for the 'Police and Crime Commissioner'. The Council Tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March and how much you pay depends on which band your house is in. Each band is calculated as a proportion of band D.
Most of the precept is used directly for the Leicestershire Police budget, with a smaller portion used to pay for the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Role of the police and crime panel
The police and crime panel has the power to reject the proposed precept and say whether it is too high or too low but this requires two thirds of the total panel membership voting in favour of the rejection (10 out of the 15 members).
If the Panel does reject the precept, the police and crime commissioner is required to propose a revised precept, either higher or lower, according to the nature of the rejection.
The panel has no further power to reject the revised precept.
Current precept
On 5 February 2025 the Police and Crime Panel unanimously approved the Police and Crime Commissioner’s proposal to increase the 2025/26 Police Precept by £14 per annum to £300.23 for a Band D property.