Richard Bradley, Chief Executive of the Office of The Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) in Gloucestershire said: “Today (Friday 13 March 2020) the Cabinet Office announced that it had postponed Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections from Thursday 7 May 2020 until May 2021. This was something that the Electoral Commission had urged the Government to do.
“In Gloucestershire, this means that Martin Surl will be Police and Crime Commissioner for a further 12 months from May and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) will continue with its business as usual to support the PCC in his role.
“As this decision by the Cabinet Office was only published within the past few hours, we are yet to receive any more details. Once we do, we will consider anything else we might need to do.”
The Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) is now working closely with the Home Office in their drafting of clauses for emergency legislation which will authorise existing PCCs to continue in post for a further year and will also cover other scenarios such as where there are currently act-up arrangements.
Local elections: Local, mayoral and Police Crime Commissioner elections in England & Wales will be postponed for a year to May 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak. pic.twitter.com/4GW0zUTyTe
— Cabinet Office (@cabinetofficeuk) March 13, 2020
We welcome and support the UK Government’s decision to postpone the May elections. Read our statement on our website https://t.co/6MVFQOd5lx pic.twitter.com/vxatvl7Gbj
— Electoral Commission (@ElectoralCommUK) March 13, 2020
