Humberside PCC Hits Back At Home Secretary

The Humber region’s Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has questioned the Home Office’s understanding of the soon-to-be-abolished PCC role.

In late 2025, the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced the role would be abolished branding it “failed experiment”.

In an interview with the LDRS, Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner, Jonathan Evison, and his deputy, Cllr Leo Hammond, raised concerns over the abolition and wider police reforms announced by the Government. Cllr Hammond, who is also an East Riding councillor, questioned the Home Office’s understanding of the scope of the role.

“The Home Office think it’s just about policing, when actually that’s only part of the PCC’s role”, Cllr Hammond said.

He explained that the PCC’s office, among other things, works with local authorities on community safety and tackling anti-social behaviour.

A crucial part of the PCC’s role, Cllr Hammond explained, is linked to the criminal justice system.

“Not only do the PCCs, as individuals and offices, hold the police to account, we also have a responsibility in holding the courts to account.

“A lot of the issues you see today in the criminal justice system have nothing to do with the police, the police are arresting people, it’s when you get into the later stages, the courts, where a lot of the backlogs and problems are. And we’ve got a responsibility to try to tackle that, which is why the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) use us a lot to try to resolve issues, deliver funding, deliver schemes, particularly through victim support. The Home Office don’t seem to understand that at all.”

Cllr Hammond added that the PCC’s office puts in the majority of the funding for the Community Safety Partnerships in the region:

“Once the PCCs have gone, who’s going to pick up those bills, or will those services stop happening?”

The projects include funding for night-time football in Beverley for young people, which Cllr Hammond says has been successful in reducing anti-social behaviour. “It’s not been very well thought out at all,” Cllr Hammond concluded.

During the interview, PCC Mr Evison raised concerns over the wider police reforms announced in the policing White Paper. In addition to removing the directly elected PCC role, the wider reforms include plans to reduce the number of police forces across England and Wales, forming larger regional forces.

The PCC said he is concerned what this could mean for residents across the Humber region. He said:

“If it’s the Yorkshire forces, plus Humberside, you’ve got Bradford in there which is a really high crime city, so if you were the super chief in that area and you’ve got a problem in Bradford and very little crime in the East Riding or in northern Lincolnshire, what are you going to do, you’re going to take coppers from there and move them into the high crime areas. That’s the fear.”

“When you put it all together it’s a centralised power grab. Traditionally British policing has been very much community led, these changes are massively reversing that, which personally I think is an atrocity.”

Responding to the comments made from both the PCC and Cllr Hammond, a Home Office spokesperson said:

“The Home Secretary has unveiled the biggest overhaul of policing structures since forces were professionalised two centuries ago, giving officers the tools they need to catch criminals, cut crime and protect the public.

“New specialist units will take on serious and organised crime, along with complex investigations such as homicides, drugs and county lines. Every town, city and borough will also gain a Local Policing Area, focused on delivering exceptional neighbourhood policing and taking the fight to shoplifters, drug dealers and anti‑social yobs.”