LABOUR has hinted it could look again at the system of Police and Crime Commissioners following criticism from the Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls.

In a speech Mr Balls hit out at “costly management and bureaucracy”, referring to Government departments, fire services and also police forces.

He said: “When we are losing thousands of police officers and police staff, how have we ended up spending more on police commissioners than the old police authorities, with more elections currently timetabled for 2016?”

PCCs were introduced last year by the Coalition Government and have the power to set police force budgets and hire and fire chief constables.

North Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Conservative Julia Mulligan said: “This is a democratic system that is open and transparent and is fundamentally better than the system before.

“PCCs put their neck on the line and if they do a good job they will get re-elected. If not they don’t.

“The old police authorities were essentially committees whose meetings were held behind closed doors.

“It was not a transparent process. The public could not have a say and hold the people who were put in place accountable.

“We do need to look at how effective the PCCs are, but in my view it would be completely unnecessary to put the police through more changes."

Northumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner Vera Baird, a former Labour MP for Redcar, said Mr Balls was not talking about scrapping PCCs.

Referring to the overheads of her office, she said: “It costs far far less than the previous police authority already, despite having enhanced obligations in scrutinising police performance and involving the public with police and community safety.

“All savings I make go back in to policing to ensure Northumbria remains one of the safest forces in the country”.