Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has proposed one national service and eight to 10 regional forces for England and Wales, putting local oversight at issue as the government reviews its 43-force system.
In a Nov. 6 speech, Rowley argued that local officers need access to specialist support for crimes that cross borders. “We cannot ask local officers to confront international criminal networks without the strength of a wider service behind them,” he said. His proposal also includes hundreds of local policing commands.
The Guardian reported Nov. 7 that Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said the plan disguised a move toward centralization. Greater Manchester Mayor Bev Craig said she would urge the government to reject its most expansive version. York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith and North East Mayor Kim McGuinness also objected, the newspaper reported.
The Home Office has committed to significantly reducing the current 43-force structure by the end of the next Parliament, but has not specified how many forces should remain. Its white paper says the government will identify opportunities for a pathfinder merger during this Parliament. It also provides for local policing areas within larger forces, where priorities would reflect community needs.
The government says the existing system can duplicate management and support functions, while smaller forces may lack specialist capacity. Police and Crime Commissioners are due to be abolished in May 2028. Where possible, strategic authority mayors would take over Police and Crime Commissioner governance duties; elsewhere, elected council leaders would handle them through Policing and Crime Boards.
Rowley cited the 1960s reorganization, when 117 local forces were merged, as a precedent. A Home Office review is considering the number and boundaries of forces, local policing arrangements and oversight. Its terms require recommendations to reach the Home Secretary by the end of the fifth month after the review’s launch. EconoTimes previously covered the government’s review of police-force structures.
