Directly elected police and crime commissioners are getting a step closer as the government set out its stall. There is much political wrangling over this. What I want to see is that only people of good character are able to stand for these positions. They should have passed suitable checks expected of anyone in public life for example a school teacher etc.
That there is a strong mechanism for ensuring checks and balances and are subject to rigorous security during their term of service. This reason for this is that this is a powerful position for anyone to occupy and the public must be reassured that the law is administered without favour or ill will. I would expect this person to undertake a solem oath of undertaking on being elected and before discharging the duties of their office sworn before the highest judge in an open local court. Again I say this because this office is more than just a political berth on a journey through public life.
Licensing my bone of contention about this function of a Town Hall is that it costs tax payers money to deal with licensing matters. In some councils I believe there are some fees that are outstanding. However more concerning for me is it is estimated that Town Halls are left with a gap between what they receive in fees and what it costs to deal with licensing application matters of somewhere in the region of £100 million pounds a year. Surely the cost of licencing applications has to be addressed at some point by the government as it cannot continue to allow business that are making profits be subsidised at the expense of the council tax payer?