The responsibility for policing South Yorkshire is split between three bodies; the Chief Constable, South Yorkshire Police Authority and the Home Secretary, this will change in November 2012 when South Yorkshire Police Authority will be replaced by an elected Police and Crime Commissioner.

A Police Authority and in future a Commissioner, have a duty to produce a Police and Crime plan and have adherence to the Strategic Policing Requirement (SPR) issued by the Home Secretary, which the Home Office believes will balance national and local concerns and priorities. In terms of performance, the overall aim of the Police, set by the Home Secretary is ‘to cut crime no more, no less’.

The Police Authority in its last Policing Plan set South Yorkshire Police a number of targets to which it can hold it to account for crime performance within South Yorkshire, in addition to this, as part of the new performance framework the public is being encouraged to scrutinise the performance of their local force using the online Policing and Crime Comparator tool.

Members regularly receive performance items on the agenda of their monthly meetings, allowing for updates to be presented from South Yorkshire Police on crime performance and this then allows the opportunity for scrutiny by members; members of the public can view past Authority meetings online by clicking here.

The Authority, as part of its engagement strategy heavily consults public opinion across the year, particularly in respect of the Policing Plan, please keep checking the main home page for the latest on up to date consultation activities.

Police Authority Business Plan 2011