Met commissioner calls for the axing of 43 county constabularies and the forming of '12 mega forces'

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Sir Mark Rowley has called for Britain's 43 county constabularies to be axed and replaced with 12 'mega forces' in what would be the biggest overhaul of policing in 60 years.
In a damning review of UK's crime fighting set up, the Met Police boss said the current system has not 'been fit for purpose for at least two decades'.
Writing in The Sunday Times, Sir Mark said that bigger forces would be better able to utilise modern technology and would reduce 'expensive' governance and support functions.
He said slashing the number of forces by two-thirds would make 'better use of the 'limited funding available' in a thinly veiled dig at Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Sir Mark said: 'The 43-force model was designed in the 1960s and hasn't been fit for purpose for at least two decades.
'It hinders the effective confrontation of today's threats and stops us fully reaping the benefits of technology.
'We need to reduce the number of forces by two-thirds, with the new bigger and fully capable regional forces supported by the best of modern technology and making better use of the limited funding available.'
He characterised Chancellor Rachel Reeves ' decision to increase police funding by 2.3 per cent above inflation each year in the recent spending review as 'disappointing'.
Gavin Stephens, chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council, last month warned forces were facing 'difficult choices' and some would 'struggle to make the numbers add up' as the cost of borrowing spirals.
Some have increasingly relied on borrowing, and the cost of debt is expected to rise by 49 per cent in the next three years.
'Forces' borrowing costs have been going up because for the last decade, local forces have had no capital investment at all,' he said.
'The main capital investment has gone to big projects at the centre.'
Force chiefs want greater say over how they structure their workforces, with the removal of restrictions on ring-fenced funding that was granted by the previous government to replace officers cut during austerity.
Mr Stephens said policing needs a variety of workers other than officers, including cyber specialists, crime scene investigators and digital forensic experts, in the same way that 'the health service is much more than just about doctors'.
He added: 'We know that the Government had some very difficult choices to make, as a consequence of this, policing is going to have some very difficult choices to make too.'
Sir Mark has previously warned of 'eye-watering cuts' to Britain's largest police force with it revealed in April it faces a £260million funding hole in its budget.
It will see the loss of 1,700 officers, PCOs and staff, although frontline services would be protected.
However, other areas will face cuts including scrapping the Royal Parks Police, a 10 per cent cut to forensics, and the possibility of taking firearms off the Flying Squad.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan last month delivered a public rebuke to Ms Reeves as he warned her spending plans risk ' levelling down London '.
Sir Sadiq said he was 'disappointed' that the review unveiled by the Chancellor had not committed to new infrastructure in the capital.
He also condemned the funding settlement for the police, saying the Met might have 'fewer police officers' as a result.
Despite Labour's massive borrowing-funded spending splurge, some areas are facing tough restrictions due to the NHS sucking up huge resources.
Yvette Cooper's Home Office is thought to have been one of the losers, with police funding seeing limited real-terms increases despite a pledge to recruit 13,000 more officers and staff for neighbourhoods in England and Wales.