THE region’s new elected police chiefs will be rapped today (Thursday, May 23) for failing to give voters the information to judge if they are getting “a good deal”.

None of the four Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in the North-East and North Yorkshire provided timely data on spending and contracts as required, MPs have said.

And one – Cleveland’s Barry Coppinger – failed to supply any information about pay, staffing costs and outside interests to the Commons’ Home Affairs select committee.

Keith Vaz, the committee’s Labour chairman, said its inquiry had exposed gaping holes in the scrutiny of PCCs – elected, amid controversy, last November.

He said: “Some Commissioners have already failed to meet the deadline for publishing information online, but there is no one in Government keeping track.”

Mr Vaz also criticised the Home Office for refusing to set up a register of the pay, perks and costs of all 41 PCCs, to allow voters to make a proper comparison.

And the alarm is also raised over the weakness of new Police and Crime Panels, which are “the only check on a PCC’s power over local policing”.

Various panel chairmen told the committee they “did not have strong powers to hold a PCC to account” – and some had been prevented from meeting.

Mr Vaz added: “The Government is going to publish a register of chief constables' interests, but has so far refused to do so for PCCs, who share the power over policing.

“The public cannot possibly judge whether their PCC is upholding the standards of the office, and giving them a good deal, unless they make a comparison with other PCCs.”

But, last night, Mr Coppinger hit back hard, pointing out he had launched a website with “financial and other information” just eight days after being elected.

And external auditors had reported that the Cleveland PCC had controls in place that were “suitably designed, consistently applied and effective”.

Mr Coppinger said: “I am fully committed to transparency so everything is published on the website, including things like my diary, my decisions and how I hold the force to account.

“I regularly take part in live webchats. I’ve attended over 50 community meetings, where members of the public have the opportunity to ask any question or raise their concerns.

“Whilst supporting the report’s recommendations, I would wish to counter any suggestion that I have not been willing to provide information.”

The report, published today, said just ten PCCs had “met their statutory obligations and published the full financial data”, by mid-April.

The four in this region – the others are Ron Hogg (Durham), Julia Mulligan (North Yorkshire) and Vera Baird (Northumbria) – only did so after the Home Secretary intervened.

Asked by the committee, only Mr Hogg supplied full staffing costs, revealing he employs eight people with total wage bill of £272,479, on top of his £70,000 salary.

PCCs were handed the power to set force budgets - and even hire and fire chief constables – to give local people a greater say over policing, ministers said.

But they were undermined from the start, when just 15 per cent of registered voters took part in the elections.