Elected police chiefs are a “failed experiment” and should be axed quickly, according to a damning report to Labour.

The review – ordered by Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP – brands the system of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) as “systemically flawed”.

The study, which was carried out by former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens, warns that clashes between PCCs and police forces has left “officer morale at rock bottom”.

It concludes “the PCC model should be discontinued in its present form at the end of the term of office of the 41 serving PCCs” – which means in March 2016.

Miss Cooper stopped short of committing Labour to simply scrapping PCCs, promising to consult on options for reform. But she said: “The system itself is flawed and the question now is not whether to reform, but how to reform.”

Lord Stevens found that PCCs had failed in six areas:

  • Poor turnout in last November’s elections – only 15 per cent of people voted – which had left PCCs with a “legitimacy deficit”.
  • The type of PCCs elected – they are “predominantly male, white and middle-aged”.
  • Invisibility – only 11 per cent of people could name their PCC, which meant they were scarcely more visible than the police authorities they replaced.
  • Cronyism – 16 PCCs had appointed their “friends and former colleagues” as deputies, on salaries of up to £65,000.
  • A “chilling effect” on the operational independence of chief constables, whom PCCs have the power to dismiss.
  • Constituencies that are too big for a single person to represent.

Bradford councillor Imran Hussain, a member of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel, agreed with “many” of the report’s findings. “The whole system needs to be looked at,” he said.

But Coun Hussain said he did not believe PCCs should be scrapped.

“I don’t think we should go back to the blackboard, because we have invested in this system, but we need to look at the report and its findings.”

The study favoured new Policing Boards, made up of the leaders of each local authority, who would set budgets and appoint chief constables.

Councils would also retain some of the police precept to spend on their own “neighbourhood policing”, which Lord Stevens warned is under threat.

The blueprint, billed as the most far-reaching for 50 years, also brands the current 43-force structure is “untenable”, arguing for mergers.

Mr Burns-Williamson did not comment on the suggestion that PCCs should be axed, but welcomed the Stevens Review as “an important piece of work into the future of policing”.

He added: “West Yorkshire Police has already made huge strides in making the reforms needed to meet the significant challenges we face here.”

e-mail: hannah.postles@telegraphandargus.co.uk