00:00Most people couldn't name their police and crime commissioner even before the role disappeared.
00:06Now it's powers shift to the mayor who already handles transport, housing and regeneration.
00:12Supporters say that puts one figure on the hook. Critics worry policing becomes another
00:17task in a crowded brief. Ronald Winch served in West Midlands Police and now teaches policing
00:23and intelligence. I asked him what this move to mayoral oversight will mean day to day.
00:29I sense that the people of West Midlands won't actually see much difference in the way policing
00:34is delivered locally. I think any changes that will occur will take place at a more strategic
00:40level and we've yet to see how that commissioning money is going to be spent. I sense that that
00:45money, much of it will still be available for different projects but there'll be a change
00:50of style. But at the moment most people don't know who the police and crime commissioner is
00:55anyway. So I sense that people locally won't see much difference.
01:00The government promises large savings and a modest rise in officer numbers. It looks
01:05tidy on paper but West Midlands Police faces heavy workloads, slow investigations and sharp
01:11inspection reports. People here judge at safety by what they see, knife incidents disorder and
01:17cases that stall. So I asked Ronald Winch what this reform means in real terms and whether Birmingham
01:23will notice any change beyond the headlines.
01:27I sense that people will see incremental improvements to policing locally and of course
01:32West Midlands have a good story to tell in relation to the reduction of violent crime and the reduction
01:39of knife crime recently which is you know to be celebrated I think across the West Midlands but
01:45of course one victim is too many and there's still much to do in relation to effective policing in the
01:51West Midlands and how that governance is going to look. Ministers call this an accountability fix yet
01:57the figures troubling people are inspection warnings and offences that never reach charge.
02:03West Midlands Police has been marked down in core areas even as some crime types fall.
02:08It raises a clear question does shifting oversight tackle the problems or just move responsibility?
02:15That police and crime plan and holding the chief constable account will kind of need to probably be
02:19geared up as we say you know when these reforms come in in 2028 but you know a really clear expectation
02:28of how the chief constable delivers and I have to say that it's a characteristic if you look at
02:34Labour governments going back if you look at the Blair government for example that you know it goes
02:40it goes hand in hand that if the government are going to invest additional resources into public services
02:44what they want in return is improved performance and the thing about improved performance is those
02:50things that get measured get done earlier and it's the things that can be measured easily
02:56that form part of that performance management culture.
