Home Secretaries will be given new powers to sack Chief Constables who fail their communities.
The Home Secretary will have the power to sack failing Chief Constables, under plans announced by Shabana Mahmood today.
The new laws will hand Home Secretaries' statutory powers to force the retirement, resignation or suspension of Chief Constables on performance grounds.
The previous administration removed the power in 2011 through the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 .
Currently, it is only Police and Crime Commissioners who hold the power to dismiss a Chief Constable.
This comes after His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary found significant failings amongst the leadership of the West Midlands police after they recommended banning Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from attending a match against Aston Villa.
In the statement, the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said:
When a Chief Constable is responsible for a damaging failure of leadership, the public rightly expect the Home Secretary to act. And I intend to restore their ability to do so.
This government will soon reintroduce the Home Secretary's power to dismiss Chief Constables.
In her statement, Mahmood has pledged to make police leaders accountable to parliament and the public ahead of sweeping police reforms to be announced later this month.
