Ahead of the publication of the policing white paper this afternoon, our Director Blair Gibbs, comments on the proposals: 

“We are pleased to see the government proposing bold structural reforms to policing. The Home Secretary’s plans are ambitious and long overdue because they address some widely-accepted shortcomings of our current policing setup. In the last few years, many crimes that affect the public have been rising and public trust in the police has been falling. That’s true across England, Wales and Scotland, irrespective of the size of force.  Crime has also been changing and policing must modernise to keep pace. Some of that modernisation is structural but it also about skills, technology, funding and leadership.

 “Our Strategic Review of Policing released in 2022 has clearly influenced the White Paper, including plans to reinvest in local policing, bring together regional capabilities, introduce a licence to practise, and provide a stronger role for the centre. Of all the changes discussed so far, the most important is the pledge to setup a National Police Service which will also lead on counter-terrorism.  This will address some long-standing inefficiencies, reduce the cluttered police landscape and improve accountability and coordination. 

We await the details to understand fully how these reforms will take effect and the time frame, however changes to make policing more effective at a national level must not come at the expense of improving police locally.  The most important test is not whether reform saves money or reduces bureaucracy, but whether it helps cut crime and improves public confidence at the same time. Currently the neighbourhood policing that most people experience is not meeting public expectations and this reform programme has to improve that.”