Every county, district, unitary and metropolitan council is required to appoint an officer of the council to be the RO for the election of councillors to their local authority.1
By virtue of being the local government RO, you will also be the Local Returning Officer (LRO) for the PCC election.
At a PCC election, an LRO is appointed for each voting area within the police area. The voting area is defined as the local authority area.
You should ensure that you have appropriate insurance cover. You should be prepared to demonstrate robust planning and decision-making processes in the event of any challenge to the elections and a claim against this cover.
The team at your council dealing with insurance may be able to help determine what existing cover is in place and available, and to provide advice as to whether it should be extended.
DLUHC will provide information relating to their policy around indemnifying PAROS and LROs in the run up to a scheduled PCC election.