Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of abolishing the office of Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall on savings to her Department.

The Government will work with local government and policing to design new Policing and Crime Boards in areas where it is not possible to transfer police governance functions to a mayor at the end of the current term of PCCs in 2028.

The Government estimates that around £100m will be saved in this Parliament by moving to these new arrangements. This includes no longer running separate policing elections and by abolishing Police and Crime Panels. Once delivered, these changes are expected to achieve savings to the Home Office of around £20m a year, enough to fund around 320 extra police constables. Home Office officials will engage with the Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall and her office on the implications for Devon and Cornwall.