Andrew Sinclair<\/span>East of England political editor<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n A police and crime commissioner (PCC) has resigned from the Labour Party in protest at the government’s decision to scrap the role across England and Wales<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a letter to the prime minister, Norfolk’s PCC Sarah Taylor complained about a lack of consultation and said she was troubled by a “significant reduction in scrutiny and accountability that will result from this decision”.<\/p>\n Taylor, who became Labour’s first PCC for Norfolk last year, says in her letter: “That a party which says it wants the best for our country should be actively reducing democracy replacing elected with unelected (representatives) is staggering.”<\/p>\n Asked for comment, Number 10 referred the BBC to a Home Office statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The statement said removing PCCs would cut the cost of unnecessary bureaucracy and increase accountability.<\/p>\n In her letter, Taylor said: “Your government’s actions have consistently and repeatedly failed to reflect what used to be called ‘Labour values’, those that first attracted me to join the party back in 2006.<\/p>\n “Instead, a command and control approach, which was so vital in changing the party, is now serving as a singular and destructive force.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are 37 elected commissioners under the existing PCC system, introduced 12 years ago to improve police accountability.<\/p>\n Appointing a chief constable and producing a policing plan are among their main responsibilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Announcing the decision earlier, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called the system a “failed experiment” and said fewer than 20% of voters could name their local PCC.<\/p>\n The Home Office said scrapping the role would allow for an extra \u00a320m of investment in frontline policing every year – enough to fund 320 constables.<\/p>\n Because Norfolk is about to have a directly-elected mayor who will also oversee Suffolk, both Taylor and her Suffolk counterpart, Tim Passmore, had already been warned their powers were going to be transferred<\/a>.<\/p>\n Taylor was elected in May last year with 35% of the vote, with a turnout of 21%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"JO](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/5f13\/live\/3ca156d0-9137-11ef-89ae-5575c76d98e6.jpg.webp\")
JO THEWLIS\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20251110-152207-94080fba49-web-2.33.2-3\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8ed3\/live\/4d6ff5a0-d824-11ef-94cb-5f844ceb9e30.png.webp\")
Ben Parker\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n