Police boss in plea to keep his job amid 'cynical power grab' claims
A police official has made a desperate plea to keep his job after his role was lined up to be scrapped.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster's head is on the chopping block amid Government plans for his role to come under the powers of the mayor.
The Labour official said the "profoundly undemocratic" move was a "cynical power grab" that would benefit only the region's Conservative mayor and the Government.
Mr Foster – who made a failed bid to become Labour's candidate for mayor earlier this year – could see his current role scrapped by May next year when the next mayoral elections take place.
He has been embroiled in a long-running row over policing powers with West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, who wants the two roles to be merged.
Plans for the transfer of the PCC's powers to the mayor are detailed in Clause 59 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is currently making its way through parliament.
Speaking at a meeting of the PCC's strategic board, Mr Foster said: "The purpose of Clause 59 is to enable the government and its Metro Mayor to abolish the people’s democratic right to vote, for their Police and Crime Commissioner; end direct accountability to the people; remove choice from the people as to who represents them; and transfer power from the people to the mayor.
"The mayor wants to take the power away from the people and transfer it to himself, so he can appoint someone of his own personal choosing, on the basis of patronage.
"It is a matter of serious concern, that we have a government and a mayor, that are prepared so casually, to dispense with the democratic rights of the people of the West Midlands.
"Make no mistake, this is not an evolution or a merger. It is profoundly undemocratic, it is deeply divisive and it is nothing more than a proposed hostile takeover.
"This cynical power grab is in no-one’s interest, other than that of the government and its metro mayor."
The region's first PCC was elected in 2012, but merging the two roles has been on the agenda since Andy Street was first elected West Midlands Mayor in 2017.
But despite public support, a proposed merger was rejected in 2019 after it was voted down by Labour council leaders on the West Midlands Combined Authority.
Changes are also afoot elsewhere in the country. The Labour Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, has announced he will absorb the responsibilities of the PCC role from next year.
Mr Foster has endured a testing two-year tenure as PCC, overseeing huge rises in crime that have bucked the national trend, while violent crime has run rampant across the region.
He has continually blamed government cuts to police budgets.
