MPs in Cornwall have called for Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez to resign “effective immediately” after the government announced they were axing the role in England and Wales.

Molly Seaman www.cornwalllive.com

The elected officials were first introduced in 2012 and their responsibilities include setting budgets for their police forces and appointing the most senior officer – the chief constable – for their area.

But ministers plan to abolish the role in 2028 when the next elections are set to be held to save at least £100 million and help fund neighbourhood policing.

Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall Ben Maguire called the PCCs a “failed Tory experiment” and joined MP for St Ives Andrew George in calling for Ms Hernandez to resign immediately.

Mr Maguire said the PCC for Devon and Cornwall should do “the decent thing” and resign before the next elections were due to take place.

Mr George added that the Police and Crime Commissioner job has been a “pointless role” and a “catalogue of embarrassment”.

They have reportedly said Ms Hernandez should resign sooner rather than wait until the role is officially abolished in 2028 as to not “waste millions more in taxpayer funds”.

Ben Maguire MP said: “It is great news that the Government has finally listened and decided to scrap the pointless Police and Crime Commissioners – a failed Tory experiment that has cost council tax payers hundreds of millions of pounds.

“Almost immediately after my election and many times since I have stood up in the House of Commons and called for this pointless role to be scrapped. This huge waste of taxpayer money would be so much better spent on bolstering frontline policing so we can tackle rural crime and antisocial behaviour.

“This is a huge victory for common sense and for the Liberal Democrat campaign. Now, Devon & Cornwall’s PCC Alison Hernandez should do the decent thing and resign immediately, rather than cling on as a lame duck, waste millions more of taxpayer money, and potentially undermine the leadership of the police here in Cornwall.”

Andrew George MP added: “PCC’s have always been a pointless waste of space and money.

“It is far better to scrap them and spend the money on more resources for our over-stretched frontline police.”

Policing minister Sarah Jones announced the move in the Commons today (Thursday, November 13), telling MPs that the model has shown little sign of improving confidence in policing. She said less than a quarter of voters turned out to vote for them in the 2024 elections, and two in five people are “unaware PCCs even exist”.

The minister added: “The reality is that the PCC model has weakened local police accountability and has had perverse impacts on the recruitment of chief constables. They have failed to inspire confidence in local people, in stark contrast to the mayoral model, which has clearly been ultimately more successful.”

Ms Jones told the Commons that measures including ending elections for PCCs and abolishing police and crime panels will save £100 million this Parliament. The changes are expected to make savings of £20 million a year, which could fund an extra 320 extra police constables, she said.

Ms Hernandez was first elected in 2016 to the job and has been re-elected twice.