55.The 2011 Act established chief constables (and the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis) as corporations sole. Subject to the consent of their Police and Crime Commissioner (in London, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime), these chief officers of police are able to spend and invest money and enter into contracts on their own behalf.
56.The 2011 Act does not apply local government legislation to chief officers of police, other than requiring them to have a qualified chief finance officer in the same manner as a local authority (or a Police and Crime Commissioner). In particular, Part 1 of the Local Government Act 2003, which sets out a framework of capital finance controls, was not applied. It is now considered desirable for this control framework to apply to chief officers of police. Section 141 achieves this. The section does not apply to the City of London Police as the 2011 Act did not change the policing arrangements in the City, and in particular did not establish the Commissioner of the City of London Police as a corporate entity.