Death of Wiltshire Police force expected in major shakeup

The Press Association has reported that the number of police forces in England and Wales is set to be cut drastically under major reforms expected to be announced by the Home Secretary next week.

Shabana Mahmood is poised to unveil the largest overhaul of policing in decades on Monday, in an effort to tackle what Government sources called “an epidemic of everyday offences”.

The changes will see the overall number of forces slashed from their current level of 43, and tasked with focusing on serious and organised crime along with complex investigations such as homicides.

At the lower level, each town, city and borough will be formed into a “local policing area” – with neighbourhood officers focused on local crime such as shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.

Earlier this month, Wiltshire's Police & Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said the force will not exist by the mid-2030s.

He said PCCs and chief constables were awaiting the publication of the government's new Police Reform Paper at the end of the month.

The paper is expected to call for a reduction in the number of police forces in England and Wales from 43 to somewhere between 12 and 20.

"This could mean demise of Wiltshire police force, and the creation of a regional super-force within five to ten years," he said.

He recognised that merging constabularies would mean massive financial savings in management and support services.

"It makes huge sense to push for regional and national collaboration," he said.

"But I think operational policing should be driven from the bottom up, predicated on the concerns of residents, rather than being from the top down, with the government telling us what residents should be concerned about."

Ms Mahmood is understood to believe the current system, which sees each of the 43 forces pay for separate headquarters and administrative staff, wastes money that could be spent on fighting crime.

Sources said the reforms would save money by merging back-office functions, freeing up resources to be invested in more police officers.

The changes are also intended to even out differences in performance between police forces, with ministers believing smaller forces lack the resources to tackle major incidents.

A Government source pointed to Wiltshire Police, which needed support from 40 other forces to respond to the Salisbury poisonings in 2018, as well as vast differences in charge rates for some offences.

They said: “Under this new structure, all forces – regardless of where they are – will have the tools and resources they need to fight serious crime.

“Where you live will no longer determine the outcomes you get from your force.”

But the changes will take time to come into effect, with the mergers only expected to be completed by the end of the next Parliament in the mid-2030s.

And it is not yet known how many forces will remain after the reforms, with the number and location of the new forces to be decided by an independent review.

Similar cuts have been proposed before, with then-Labour home secretary Charles Clarke announcing plans to cut the number of police forces to 24 in March 2006.

But Mr Clarke’s proposals were abandoned by his successor John Reid just four months later after the proposed merger of Lancashire and Cumbria police forces collapsed and senior officers turned against the idea.

Allies of Ms Mahmood stressed her commitment to the reforms, saying the Home Secretary was “a moderniser” and “not scared of bold reform and a political fight”.

But Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said there was “no evidence” that merging police forces would cut crime or improve performance.

He said: “Top-down reorganisation risks undermining efforts to fight crime, inevitably leading to centralised control that will hit towns and villages across the country hardest.

“The biggest force, the Met, has the lowest crime solving rates and falling police numbers. Big is not necessarily better.”