Police and Crime Commissioners were created in England and Wales by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, with the first Police and Crime Commissioner Elections taking place on 15 November 2012, followed by elections in May 2016 with the next PCC Elections being held in May 2021.
If you are unable to attend the polling station in person due to a positive Covid-19 test or are required to self-isolate as a result of government or medical advice, you can appoint an emergency proxy to vote on your behalf.
Download an application form online. You can apply up until 5pm on 6 May.
To be eligible to vote in the Police and Crime Commissioners Election you must be:
The Police and Crime Commissioner polls are being combined with the Senedd Cymru polls that are being held on the same day.
Please note: 16 and 17 year olds and qualifying foreign nationals will not be eligible to vote in the Police and Crime Commissioner election.
The next Police and Crime Commissioner Elections (PCC Elections) will be on
Thursday 6 May 2021. For further detailed information relating to this election and associated timetable please visit the Vale Of Glamorgan Council’s
Police Area Returning Officer Website
The PCC Elections take place in 40 police force areas in England and Wales (excluding London and Manchester). Each area has one Police and Crime Commissioner for its police area.
In Wales, there are four police areas, with each area electing a Police and Crime Commissioner. The four Welsh police areas are:
- Dyfed Powys
- Gwent
- North Wales
- South Wales
The South Wales Police Area covers 7 voting areas:
- Bridgend
- Cardiff
- Merthyr Tydfil
- Neath Port Talbot
- Rhonda Cynon Taf
- Swansea
- The Vale of Glamorgan
With a Local Returning Officer appointed for each of the above voting areas.
Ms. Debbie Marles (Vale Of Glamorgan Council) is the Police Area Returning Officer for the South Wales Police Area for the May 2021 PCC Elections, and is responsible for the overall conduct of the PCC election including:
- liaising with Local Returning Offices in the South Wales Police Area
- giving notice of the Election
- the nomination procedure
- encouraging participation
- ensuring that the requirements as to the content of the candidates’ election addresses and the procedures for submitting those addresses are complied with
- the collation of local totals and calculation of the result
- the declaration of the result
The Local Returning Officer (Andrew Wilkins) for the Rhondda Cynon Taf area is responsible within the Council’s voting area for:
- ensuring the election is administered effectively
- the provisions of polling stations
- the printing of ballot papers
- the conduct of the poll
- appointing polling station staff
- managing the postal vote process
- the verification and count in their voting area
- transmission of the local totals to the Police Area Returning Officer
The Role of the Police and Crime Commissioner
The Police and Crime Commissioner is responsible for:
- Holding the Police Force to account
- Appointing Chief Constables and dismissing them (if necessary)
- Setting police budgets
- Setting the amount of Council Tax people will pay towards policing
- Setting out policing priorities for the local area
- Overseeing how crime is tackled in the area and setting aims to ensure the police are providing a good service
- Meeting and consulting the public regularly, to listen to their views on policing
- Producing a police and crime plan that sets out local policing priorities
- Deciding how the budget will be spent
For further information about the role of a Police and Crime Commission please see
www.choosemypcc.org.uk