Too many police chiefs? - A review of police strength and costs in England & Wales 2010

Concluding Summary

THE MERGING OF POLICE FORCES

Whilst not necessarily the perfect and certainly not the only solution, it seems to make good economic and practical sense to consider merging the 43 forces as per the APA regional map on Page 60 into the 10 regional police force areas as per the table below.

REGIONAL FORCE

North East North West

Cleveland Cheshire

Derbyshire Durham

COMPRISING OF THE FOLLOWING FORCES

Northumbria

Cumbria Greater Manchester Lancashire Merseyside

Yorkshire & Humber Humberside North Yorkshire South Yorkshire West Yorkshire East Midlands West Midlands Wales

Leicestershire Gwent Kent

South West

South East London Eastern

• •

Avon & Somerset Devon & Cornwall

Hampshire

City Of London Metropolitan Bedfordshire Cambridgeshire

Staffordshire Warwickshire West Mercia West Midlands Dyfed-Powys

North Wales

Dorset

Surrey

Essex South Wales

Gloucestershire Wiltshire

Sussex

Hertfordshire Thames Valley Norfolk Suffolk

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary has calculated that potential savings from merging existing forces could amount to up to £2.25 billion over ten years, so it seems reasonable to assume that at least this level of savings could be achieved. A greater pressure for value for money will lead to cost reductions of this kind. That pressure will come from greater accountability.

The merging of forces would bring improved performance through sharing of resources and expertise, and improved value for money financially with increased opportunities for centralised purchase of services. It would be far easier to negotiate major costs reductions with the buying power of one centralised procurement agency liaising with 10 regional procurement offices rather than the existing 43 force disparate purchasing strategy.

•

As will be seen in the next summary about salaries, there are major opportunities available for restructuring and consolidating the existing rank structure, particularly at ACPO and SMT levels.

Lincolnshire Northamptonshire Nottinghamshire

84

Chapter 6 Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111