Four years on from the first elections in 2012, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are now an established part of the policing landscape. The current government is committed to the PCC model and the opposition have committed to retaining them in the medium term. In advance of the 2016 elections, the 18th Oxford Policy Forum met to discuss what PCCs had achieved over the last four years and to consider how their role should evolve into the 2020s.

The Forum considered the following questions:

• To what extent have PCCs achieved the objectives originally set for them and how do they measure up against the fears of their critics?
• Could PCCs take on an expanded role in some areas, including parts of the wider criminal justice system?
• What are the implications of the emerging devolution agenda for PCCs?