Police merger plans delayed

Monday, 19 June 2006 12:00 AM

Plans to merge police forces in England and Wales have been put on hold until after the summer to address widespread concerns among police, the public and MPs.

Home secretary John Reid today said he would not lay any parliamentary orders for enforced police mergers until after the summer recess, in recognition of the "legitimate" concerns that many people had about the plans.

But in the case of two forces, Cumbria and Lancashire, he said the merger would go ahead because they were both in support of becoming a new 'super-force'.

However, while he promised "discussion and dialogue", Mr Reid made clear that he still considered the plans, which were drawn up by his predecessor, Charles Clarke, as the best way to modernise the police.

The proposals are based on a report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), which said the current system of 43 separate forces had left individual police authorities struggling to deal with organised crime without cutting back on neighbourhood policing.

The plans are highly controversial, with critics arguing that creating 12 new 'super-forces', including just one force for Wales, could lead to a loss of accountability and cost millions of pounds that should be spent on employing new officers.

Today Mr Reid told MPs that the status quo was not an option, saying the new strategic police forces would be better in dealing with the most serious crime and help ensure officers remain on the streets where they are visible.

"But I do accept that people want to discuss [the plans] at greater length and greater detail and have decided that this merits further and slower consideration," he said.

He added: "I believe the strategic objective and the ultimate destination is the correct one, but I am responding to the will of the House, the police authorities, and many outside this House to conduct this in a way that meets the[se] anxieties.

"You have to allow the possibility that there will be changes and different nuances, but I can tell the House that I'm pretty convinced that we will end up in the destination outlined in [the HMIC report]."

The Conservatives welcomed the announcement, saying the plans were going through an "absurdly fast timetable", but shadow police reform minister Nick Herbert said ministers should abandon the plans altogether.

"The government now needs to stop altogether these unnecessary and expensive amalgamations that will only damage neighbourhood policing, and focus instead on the issues that matter," he said.

Cleveland police authority, which last month launched a judicial review to delay plans to merge it with Northumbria and Durham police forces, also welcomed Mr Reid's comments, saying the original timetable was "unrealistic and undeliverable".

"What really matters, of course, is whether the new ministerial team is prepared to approach the issue with an open mind or whether they will remain completely wedded to blueprint for mass mergers which has now been exposed as deeply flawed, hugely expensive - and totally opposed by the public," said chairman Dave McLuckie.

However, Labour MP Gisela Stuart, whose local West Midlands police force is in favour of a merger, urged Mr Reid not to consult too long, saying uncertainty was as difficult to deal with as change.

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