Rural areas may suffer in merger, police chief warns

A police chief has warned that plans to reduce the number of forces in England and Wales could cause rural communities to suffer.

The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said earlier this year that she wanted to drastically reduce the number of police forces in England to make them more efficient.

Suffolk's Conservative police and crime commissioner, Tim Passmore, told the Suffolk Police and Crime Panel he was unconvinced the plans would deliver better outcomes.

"Resources and decision-making could increasingly be concentrated in major urban centres, leaving rural counties such as Suffolk and Norfolk at risk of losing influence and visibility," he said.

While he said he was not opposed to reform, Passmore argued that any changes should make good use of public resources.

The plans have been supported by the Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, who is proposing the current 43-force structure is cut to between eight and 10 regional constabularies.

Sir Mark said the existing system could not cope with modern criminality - and needed urgent reform.

If the plans go ahead, it would be the biggest overhaul of policing since the 1960s.

Others have also spoken out against the proposals, including the Conservative police, fire and crime commissioner for Essex, who said Sir Mark's idea was not fit for purpose.

Passmore said: "I would caution strongly against the assumption that bigger automatically means better."

The commissioner acknowledged that the changes could allow forces to collaborate more effectively when targeting organised crime, but could reduce the visibility of officers in rural areas.

He said that neighbourhood policing allowed officers to understand local communities and the issues they care about most.

He added: "We should always be open to sensible change. But reform must not compromise the visibility of policing in our communities or weaken the connection between local people and the police."

The government has never said how many police forces it would like to see after its police reforms become law.

It has asked the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Hogan-Howe to look at what the force boundaries might look like.

A Home Office spokesperson said "Our current model of policing has not changed since the 1960s and is no longer fit for purpose."

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