Leading English mayors have challenged proposals for a sweeping consolidation of police forces in England and Wales, warning that large regional organisations could weaken local oversight. Their objections followed a call on Friday by Metropolitan police commissioner Mark Rowley to replace the existing 43 forces with between eight and 10.
Other chief constables, including Greater Manchester’s Stephen Watson, supported reform, although senior police figures differ over how far consolidation should go. Several mayors and police and crime commissioners criticised Rowley’s proposal, while some privately viewed it as an effort to pressure the prime minister into a major restructuring of policing.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans in January for a substantial reduction in force numbers and commissioned former Metropolitan police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe to conduct a review. Its findings remain unpublished, but it is understood to consider models involving between nine and 18 forces. Many mayors favour matching police jurisdictions to mayoral boundaries, allowing them greater oversight, rather than creating forces covering major cities and extensive rural areas.
Liverpool city region mayor Steve Rotheram argued that absorbing local forces into a small number of regional bodies would centralise power and conflict with devolution. London mayor Sadiq Khan is also understood to fear consequences for accountability and neighbourhood policing. One possible change would see the Metropolitan police, which serves almost all of London, absorb the smaller City of London force responsible for the square mile.
An unnamed mayor expected the prime minister to choose a compromise based on mayoral regions, roughly halving the number of forces while retaining around twice the number proposed by Rowley. The mayor believed Andy Burnham favoured giving mayors consistent boundaries and oversight of chief constables, reflecting the approach used in Manchester. Greater Manchester mayor Bev Craig said she would press the government to reject Rowley’s most extensive proposals, pointing to the benefits of local accountability within suitable geographical boundaries.
York and North Yorkshire mayor David Skaith warned that the proposals threatened local policing and challenged Rowley’s authority to present a model of policing excellence, citing the Met’s record. North-east England mayor Kim McGuinness similarly defended locally accountable forces and cautioned against dismantling a longstanding policing structure. She also questioned whether the Met’s own difficulties put its leadership in a position to instruct northern forces.
Speaking in Manchester, Rowley argued that policing would fail without fundamental change. He maintained that reform would reinforce neighbourhood policing by giving local officers the wider support needed to tackle international criminal networks. Senior police sources said the Treasury would provide no additional funding for law enforcement, with hopes instead resting on reforms eventually releasing hundreds of millions of pounds for frontline officers and improvements to outdated technology.
Watson argued that maintaining the current structure would leave policing in decline. He pointed to duplication across 43 headquarters, leadership teams, administrative functions and IT systems as evidence of a strong financial case for reform, describing change as necessary.
