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| Police commissioners: Candidates in mailshot call | |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Some candidates in the elections for police and crime commissioners in England and Wales are calling for a state-funded mailshot to all voters. | |
| Independent candidates say the polls will be unfairly weighted in favour of political rivals because information is not going to every voter. | |
| A group of independent hopefuls is to hand a protest letter to No 10 later. | |
| The Home Office said details about candidates would go online and be delivered to those who wanted them. | |
| Information about candidates is posted to every household during parliamentary, mayoral and European elections in the UK; however this will not be the case in the police and crime commissioner elections. | |
| The first elections for police and crime commissioners will take place in 41 regions on 15 November. | The first elections for police and crime commissioners will take place in 41 regions on 15 November. |
| The commissioners will replace police authorities, with the power to determine budgets and hire and fire chief constables. | The commissioners will replace police authorities, with the power to determine budgets and hire and fire chief constables. |
| 'Perverse and undemocratic' | 'Perverse and undemocratic' |
| The government says elected commissioners will be more publicly accountable. | The government says elected commissioners will be more publicly accountable. |
| Ann Barnes, an independent candidate in Kent, said: "It's quite perverse because we have the prime minister, the policing minister and the home secretary on record saying they want highly visible, strongly credible independent candidates to stand. | Ann Barnes, an independent candidate in Kent, said: "It's quite perverse because we have the prime minister, the policing minister and the home secretary on record saying they want highly visible, strongly credible independent candidates to stand. |
| "And yet they will not give them the one thing... that will help them get their message out to voters. It's perverse, it's undemocratic and it's really unjust." | "And yet they will not give them the one thing... that will help them get their message out to voters. It's perverse, it's undemocratic and it's really unjust." |
| She said without a state-funded mailshot those representing political parties had an unfair advantage because they had more money and resources to run their campaigns. | |
| Mrs Barnes will hand in a letter of protest at Downing Street on Tuesday morning on behalf of a number of independent contenders. | Mrs Barnes will hand in a letter of protest at Downing Street on Tuesday morning on behalf of a number of independent contenders. |
| The Home Office said information would be readily available but the Electoral Commission, which scrutinises the running of elections, warned earlier this year that seven million voters who do not use the internet could be denied information. | The Home Office said information would be readily available but the Electoral Commission, which scrutinises the running of elections, warned earlier this year that seven million voters who do not use the internet could be denied information. |
| Policing Minister Nick Herbert said the £25-35m cost of the mailshot was not justifiable in the current climate. | |
| Information about the website, which will be promoted on polling cards, will cost £100,000, while £2m has been budgeted for leaflets, which can be requested. | |
| Mr Herbert said: "It's wrong to believe success or failure for an independent candidate depends on one thing, whether they get a free election address. | |
| "Surely there is the local media, surely there is the meetings they have to capture public attention, surely there is new media." | |
| 'Minor' crime | 'Minor' crime |
| Last week, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners Transitional Board, which is overseeing the move from police authorities to commissioners, urged ministers to reconsider the rules so juvenile convictions could not be used to bar candidates from standing. | |
| It was prompted by the withdrawal of a number of candidates because they committed "minor" criminal offences as juveniles. | It was prompted by the withdrawal of a number of candidates because they committed "minor" criminal offences as juveniles. |
| Alan Charles, who was Labour's candidate in Derbyshire and vice-chairman of the region's police authority, withdrew on Friday because he had received a conditional discharge for a "minor" crime nearly 50 years ago, when he was 14. | |
| But a Home Office spokesman said: "This high standard was set with cross-party agreement because PCCs will hold police forces, whose duty is to uphold the law, to account." | |