Editing Police authority (section)

===1964: creation of independent police authorities===
The [[Police Act 1964]] introduced major reforms to the organisation and oversight of the police in England and Wales, following the report of the Royal Commission on the Police in 1962. The 1964 act abolished the old watch committee system which had come under severe criticism following several high-profile corruption scandals.

The act introduced [[police area]]s, which would be administrative counties, county boroughs or "combined police areas", consisting of combinations of counties and county boroughs, served by a single force, overseen by an independent "police authority". The new police authorities would consist of two-thirds elected members of county or borough councils, and one-third magistrates. Under the [[Local Government Act 1972]] the remaining borough police forces were abolished, and police authorities consisted of county councillors and magistrates in a ratio of two to one.

The [[Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994]] altered the composition of the authorities with independent members being added. Typically, a police authority was made up of seventeen members – nine elected members (who were drawn from the local authority or authorities for the force area, and would be reflective of the political makeup of those authorities). The remaining eight members were called independent members, and were appointed from the local community for fixed terms of four years by the police authority itself - a long list, from applications received, was submitted by a committee of elected members and magistrates to the [[Home Office]]. That committee then appointed the independent members from a shortlist returned by the Home Office. At least three of the police authority's independent members were magistrates. There was no difference in power or responsibility between the different types of member – there were examples of elected, independent and magistrate members chairing police authorities throughout England and Wales.

====Funding====
The bulk of police funding came from the [[Home Office]] in the form of an annual grant (calculated on a proportionate basis by the Home Office to take into account the differences between the 43 forces in England and Wales, which vary significantly in terms of population, geographical size and crime levels and trends), though police authorities could also set a precept on the [[Council Tax]] to raise additional funds. The Home Office had the power to prevent any precept increases deemed to be excessive. It was the police authority's responsibility to set the budget for the force area, which included allocating itself enough money from the overall policing budget to ensure that it can discharge its own functions effectively.

In its annual Policing Plan, a police authority was obliged to publish its budget for the year, as well as a value for money statement and to outline planned efficiency savings.

====Inspections====
[[Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary]] and the [[Audit Commission (United Kingdom)|Audit Commission]] (or the [[Welsh Audit Commission]] in Wales) began a programme of inspection for police authorities in September 2009. Inspection scores four areas of police authority capability:
* Setting strategic direction and priorities
* Scrutinising performance outcomes
* Achieving results through community engagement and partnerships
* Ensuring value for money and productivity
Each theme was scored from one to four:
# Performs poorly
# Performs adequately
# Performs well
# Performs excellently
The police authority was also given an overall score using the same 1-4 system.<ref>{{cite web |title=Joint Audit Commission and Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary Police Authority Inspection Framework |url=http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/MethodologyAndTools/Guidance/policeinspectionframeworkjul09.pdf |website=[[Audit Commission (United Kingdom)|Audit Commission]] |archive-url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20091205013243/http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/MethodologyAndTools/Guidance/policeinspectionframeworkjul09.pdf |archive-date=5 December 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Ten inspection reports were published, with the majority of inspected authorities scoring 2. The inspectorates published "Learning Lessons: An overview of the first ten joint inspections of police authorities by HMIC and the Audit Commission", outlining their findings from the first ten inspections, in March 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=Learning Lessons: An overview of the first ten joint inspections of police authorities by HMIC and the Audit Commission |url=http://www.hmic.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Individually%20Referenced/PAI_NFS_20100315.pdf |website=[[Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary]] |access-date=29 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220040431/http://www.hmic.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Individually%20Referenced/PAI_NFS_20100315.pdf |archive-date=20 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>