By Islam El-Sakka
The number of police forces in England should be reduced from 39 to as few as nine "super forces," according to an official review ordered by the government and led by former Metropolitan Police commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe.
Review details and proposed structure
The review, completed in September and submitted to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, proposes between nine and 18 regional forces plus a single force for Wales. These would sit above more than 150 local policing units handling neighbourhood crime-fighting. A new National Police Service would oversee counter-terrorism and serious organized crime.
Government timeline and political tensions
The government plans to publish the review before Christmas, with a white paper due in the new year. Delay is attributed to Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham's devolution agenda, which could align police structures with mayoral boundaries, potentially resulting in 20 or more forces. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley and other chiefs are pressing for radical reduction, meeting Burnham to argue that "the cost of standing still is that criminals will win."
Opposition and concerns among police leaders
Some chief constables are skeptical of the nine-force model, warning that mergers could take five to six years to show returns and that overly large forces may lose local accountability. Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott said the changes would tear up policing fabric for a suboptimal outcome. Others note that the largest forces, including the Met, Greater Manchester, and West Midlands, have recently been placed in special measures.
Comparison with existing models
Scotland and Northern Ireland already operate under single forces. The Hogan-Howe review studied those models and the Netherlands, aiming to avoid errors by prioritizing local and neighbourhood policing as the bedrock of British law enforcement. The government also plans to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners as part of the reforms.
