Police authority
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the United Kingdom, a police authority is a body charged with securing efficient and effective policing for its local area. Separate arrangements exist for England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Contents |
[edit] England and Wales
In England and Wales the police authority is a committee with representatives nominated by the local authority(ies), independent members, and magistrates. A typical arrangement is nine councillors, three magistrates and five independent members though these numbers vary according to the size of the force they are regulating. A significant variation is the Metropolitan Police Authority, which has 23 members, twelve of whom are members of the London Assembly.
Before the advent of police authorities, the regulatory bodies for police forces confined to a single borough were known as Watch Committees, whilst those for counties from 1889 had been Standing Joint Committees (after 1889 some control passed to the elected county council; the joint committee also had magistrates). The Police Act 1964 reconstituted these as police authorities with two-thirds elected members of county or borough councils, and one-third magistrates. Under the Local Government Act 1972 the remaining borough police forces were abolished, and police authorities consisted of county councillors and magistrates in a ratio of two to one. The Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994 altered the composition of the authorities with independent members being added. A long list, from applications received, is submitted by a committee of elected members and magistrates to the Home Office. That committee then appoints the independent members from a shortlist returned by the Home Office.
Police authorities receive some funding from the Home Office and, in addition, set a precept on the Council Tax.
In 2004, police authorities were created for two non-Home Office forces, the British Transport Police and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.
- British Transport Police Authority - this is made up of approximately 12-15 members, each of whom have interests in one aspect of the railways. Some will be representatives of the railway operators, some will represent the interests of railway users, some will represent the industry's employees, and there will be representatives from England, Scotland and Wales.
- Civil Nuclear Police Authority - this is made up of seven members; four are nominated by the nuclear industry, while the remaining three are the Chairman, the Police adviser and an independent member.
[edit] Northern Ireland
The Police Authority for Northern Ireland was dissolved on 4 November 2001 and replaced by the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland is supervised by the Northern Ireland Policing Board, of which ten are members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and nine are independent.
[edit] Scotland
[edit] Overview
In Scotland supervision is the responsibility of the elected local authority which either directly supervises the local police force where its border is conterminous with the force, or works through joint boards with neighbouring local authorities.
[edit] Single authority
The following police forces are supervised by one single local authority:
| Police force | Local authority |
|---|---|
| Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary | Dumfries and Galloway |
| Fife Constabulary | Fife |
[edit] Joint police boards
The following police forces are supervised by a joint board:
[edit] External links
- Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994 [1]
 |
This article is a stub relating to law in the United Kingdom, or its constituent jurisdictions. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
