97.Section 14 amends the provisions requiring the views of the people in the police area to be obtained, in order to ensure that those views are sought in particular circumstances, namely before a police and crime commissioner or the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime issues a police and crime plan or precept.
98.Subsection (3) makes particular reference, in the provision to be inserted in section 96 of the Police Act 1996, to victims of crime. Section 96 of the 1996 Act did not previously require the views of victims to be obtained – the effect of this subsection is to create such a duty.
99.Subsection (3) also inserts a reference to the views of relevant ratepayers’ representatives. The term is defined in the provision inserted by subsection (5). This replaces provision in the Local Government Finance Act 1992 requiring police authorities to obtain the views of representatives of non-domestic rate-payers, which is amended by section 26(3) so that it does not apply to police and crime commissioners. The purpose is to create a single provision in the 1996 Act concerning the duty on police and crime commissioners to consult the public in relation to precept.