South Yorkshire Governance

About us

The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 established Police and Crime Panels (PCPs) within each force area in England and Wales (excluding Greater London).

The panel consists of at least one representative from each local authority in South Yorkshire, and at least three independent members co-opted by the panel. South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Panel has 13 members.

Our role

The Police and Crime Panel is responsible for scrutinising and supporting the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).  

It's the panel's job to:

  • agree on the priorities in the Police and Crime Plan
  • monitor the delivery of the priorities
  • set the policing precept as part of Council Tax
  • recruit and dismiss the Chief Constable.

The panel also supports broader community safety activities across the county.

The Police and Crime Panel is a joint body established collectively by each of the four local authorities in South Yorkshire, with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council acting as the host authority. 

The membership of the Police and Crime Panel consists of:

  • 10 councillors drawn from each of the four local authorities in the South Yorkshire Police area, according to a set allocation of places
  • three independent co-opted members drawn from the local community.

Police and Crime Commissioner

The Police and Crime Commissioner is Dr Alan Billings.

Dr Alan Billings has been a board member of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, which oversees the work of the criminal justice system for the under-18s.  He's also a former member of the England Committee of the Big Lottery Fund and director of the Centre for Ethics and Religion at Lancaster University.

Dr Billings was Deputy Leader of Sheffield City Council and a councillor for the Walkley ward in 1980. He also served as a Church of England parish priest in four parishes, including spells in inner-city Sheffield and in the mining community of Beighton. He's also trained clergy at two theological colleges - Ripon College, Cuddesdon, Oxford (Anglican) and The Queen's College, Birmingham (Ecumenical).

Meetings, agendas and documents

The agenda papers for the Police and Crime Panel meetings are published five working days in advance.

Members

You can view the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel members here.

Panel allowances

Each member of the Police and Crime Panel receives an allowance of £920 per annum.

There's a special responsibility allowance (SRA) paid to the chair of £5350 per annum and to the vice-chair of £2675 per annum. This was approved by the Police and Crime Panel in December 2018.

The funding for the allowances and the democratic, legal, scrutiny and administrative support for the PCP is paid for by an annual grant from the Home Office, which is provided to all panels across the country.

View the panel arrangements (paragraphs 14 and 15).

Register of members' claims

View the South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel register of member's claims.

Additional information

Standards and ethics

Appointed members of the Police and Crime Panel must observe the code of conduct of their local authority and any related protocols as agreed by the PCP. Co-opted (independent) members must observe the code of conduct of the host authority (Barnsley MBC) and any related protocols as agreed by the PCP.

Member code of conduct

Arrangements for dealing with breaches of the code will be dealt with by either the host authority or individual local authorities, dependent on the member and independent member concerned through their own appeals and standards committees.

Declarations of members' interests

Members of the PCP complete declarations of interest within their own local authorities and these are utilised for the Police and Crime Panel. Read our members' declarations of interests.

If you wish to make a complaint about a member of the Police and Crime Panel contact us online or write to: Monitoring Officer, Barnsley MBC, Town Hall, Barnsley, S70 2TA.

 

Consultation and engagement

The panel play a role in supporting the process of gathering public opinion and can ask for information on the methodology approach and results of public consultations.

As part of monitoring the delivery of the Police and Crime Plan, the panel receives reports on the PCC's public engagement, and how this is helping to increase trust and confidence in South Yorkshire Police.

How to ask a question

If you'd like to submit a public question contact the Police and Crime Panel online. Please submit your question five working days in advance of the panel meeting.

Questions can also be submitted:

  • in writing to: The Clerk, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel, Town Hall, Church Street, Barnsley, S70 2TA
  • by email to: jagu@barnsley.gov.uk (please put ‘public question for the Police and Crime Panel’ in the subject line)

If you need any more information, please contact the Police and Crime Panel’s support officer on (01226) 772207.

Freedom of Information

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), you have a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities.

When you ask for information under FOIA we have to:

  • Confirm or deny that we hold the information requested.
  • Acknowledge your request within five working days.
  • Give you the information you have asked for within 20 working days of receiving your request.
  • Provide you with a 'reasonable' level of assistance to gain access to our information.
  • Inform you of the exemption that applies if we are not releasing the information you want.
  • Advise you how to appeal if you are not satisfied with our response.

Please note, that in rare cases, where we calculate that it will cost more than £450 to collate and provide the information you have requested we may decline to provide the information.  In such cases we work out the costs and issue a Fee Notice to you.  If you pay the fee within 3 months we will then provide the information.

How to make an information request

Your request must:

  • Be in writing (fax or e-mail are acceptable). We cannot take FOI requests by phone.
  • Contain a contact name and address - we may need to contact you to clarify the request. A telephone number would also be useful and we will need somewhere to send the information.
  • Contain a description of the information required.

Please email your request to informationrequests@barnsley.gov.uk or write to Barnsley MBC, Customer Feedback and Improvement Team, PO Box 634, Barnsley, S70 9GG.

Find out more about the Police and Crime Commissioner's office Freedom of Information procedure. 

If you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Information Commissioner's office at Customer Services Team, Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Complaints

The Complaints Procedure has been adopted to ensure compliance with the Elected Local Policing Bodies (Complaints and Misconduct) Regulations 2012, issued under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.

There are separate procedures for complaints against the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and staff, and complaints regarding operational policing, the Chief Constable and other police officers. Find out more about the complaints procedure.

The complaints that the Panel handles are:

  • All non-criminal complaints directed against the Police and Crime Commissioner ("the PCC") and, if appointed, any Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner;  and
  • Criminal complaints and conduct matters that are referred back to the Panel by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which are then to be treated by the Panel as a non-criminal complaint.

Before the Panel can consider a complaint the complainant must provide their full name and postal address, and specific details as required by paragraph 12 of the Complaints Procedure below.

Timescales

Wherever possible complaints will be acknowledged within five working days and concluded within eight weeks if dealt with through the informal resolution process (see Complaints Procedure in full below). However, these are target times and this procedure is designed to be flexible and accordingly, timescales will reflect the nature and complexity of the complaint.

Complaints about South Yorkshire Police that have been reviewed by the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) have no right of appeal to the Police and Crime.  The PCC's decision is final.   



Annual budget

The Police and Crime Commissioner must set an annual budget for policing. Most of the funding for South Yorkshire Police comes directly from the government via the police grant, and the remainder comes from the public of South Yorkshire as the police part of the Council Tax. This is known as the 'precept'.

Budgets and accounts

At it's meeting on Monday 5 February 2024, the Police and Crime panel voted to accept the proposed increase in the policing element of Council Tax (the precept) for 2024/25 of £13 for a Band D property, which is an increase of 5.46%.

The full details can be found in the meeting documentation (see item 10).

The Council Tax precept is the amount of Council Tax that is paid to the police to provide policing and crime services.

Audit

The Police and Crime Panel will have some duties around formal audit which focus on the consideration of finance reports. Whilst the provision of information doesn't mean the PCP will become directly involved in audit discussions, it will provide useful background information for the members in carrying out their statutory functions. 

The Police and Crime Commissioner has a Joint Independent Audit Committee which meets at least four times per year.  

Payments over £500

The Local Government Transparency Code contains a number of requirements, one of which is to publicise expenditure over £500.

Read about the local government transparency code or about spending over £500.

The Police and Crime Panel is required to submit annual returns to the Home Office detailing the expenditure in order to receive the grant.

For more information