ON THURSDAY all Sussex residents will be entitled to vote for their Police and Crime Commissioner and have an opportunity to either re-elect Katy Bourne or vote for one of the other candidates.

In some parts of England and Wales the role of PCC is filled by a directly elected mayor. This is true of Manchester and of course in London where the mayor is responsible for policing in the same way as our PCC is here in Sussex.

There are all sorts of arguments regarding the merits of these roles and questions as to how they add value to the democratic landscape compared to the situation before the roles were created.

Fifteen 15years ago on October 18, 2001, a referendum was held in Brighton and Hove to gaugeour opinion on the idea of an executive mayor for the city when 60,000 of us voted, with more than 37,000 votes against.

As things stand, the only model for local devolution offered by the Government includes the need for an executive mayor to cover the area concerned.

A debate this week in Parliament challenged this approach and the Government confirmed its determination that even in rural areas such as Sussex, an elected mayor will be needed as part of the arrangements.

At present there are currently two strategies being worked up for devolution bylocal councils in our area. Both will have an impact on Sussex as a whole, although based on different geographical footprints.

If either of these schemes are successful and the Government remains committed to directly elected mayors, we might find we have an elected mayor after all.