The politician who oversees Warwickshire Police expects his role to be scrapped as part of plans to reform local government. 

Police & Crime Commissioner Philip Seccombe predicts he "will probably be the last PCC to be elected in Warwickshire" and for his duties to form part of a mayoral role in the future. 

Elected PCCs were introduced in 2012 to replace police authorities. They are voted into full-time posts to hold senior police officials to account for performance and set their budgets and priorities but their power stops short of any direct influence on operational policing. 

Most council services in Warwickshire are delivered over two levels of local government – a county council and then district and borough councils – but the national government is pushing through plans for all areas to be served by unitary authorities where all services are dealt with under one roof. 

Wider reforms linked to that surround devolution – the distribution of more power and funding to local decision makers – and what kind of strategic authority Warwickshire may form or be a part of, including the prospect of joining the West Midlands Combined Authority which already has an elected mayor. 

While there are two options for local government reform in Warwickshire, one new county-wide council or two splitting the north and south, the strategic authority question carries far more uncertainty.

However, Mr Seccombe dropped a strong hint on what could come during an address to Stratford-on-Avon District Council's overview and scrutiny committee.

It came in response to a question from Cllr Peter Hencher-Serafin who asked whether money could be saved by handing the duties of the PCC's office to Warwickshire County Council, creating more cash to spend on policing. 

Mr Seccombe said: "This is a framework from national legislation but actually, I may be the last PCC in Warwickshire. 

"We are likely to get a mayor from somewhere, doing something, but those mayors will take on policing and fire and rescue responsibilities. I will probably be the last PCC to be elected in Warwickshire, I think."

He also defended the efficiency of his office.

"My predecessor – I am the second PCC in Warwickshire – took over from the Warwickshire Police Authority and the budget has not really differed very much from what that cost," added Mr Seccombe. 

"Before that it was a watch committee that was part of the county council but I don't think it would bring any great savings. 

"I have 15 people in my office, a number of policy officers and I have to have some of those such as a monitoring officer, finance officer, estates manager – the estate includes the two justice centres, it is huge and a big responsibility.

"I would always argue that I could do with more people but because of the financial constraints we have slimmed down the office as much as possible. We are the smallest office in the country with the same duties as every other police force."

Cllr Hencher-Serafin's query followed on from Cllr Sarah Whalley-Hoggins asking about the cost of the PCC's office.

Mr Seccombe could not provide on-the-spot figures but said it was around £1 million per year. A further £2.5 million is spent in commissioned services "principally to support victims and our annual grant scheme", including cash for community safety partnerships.

Cllr Whalley-Hoggins asked: "What savings have you endeavoured to make within that office so we can get more funding to actually fight crime?"

"The duties of my office have gone up," said Mr Seccombe.

"We are taking on more and more responsibility as time progresses. For example, we are dealing with and handling the funding for the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, which is a government initiative to get 13,000 more officers across the country. 

"We are also handling the government's funding of Resolve which is for local hotspot policing, a new thing that has come through in the past year.

"The number of responsibilities, including finance, liaising with other partners and being proactive with innovative ways of doing things, has increased."