Merge police into 10 larger forces, says Met chief

Sir Mark Rowley wants the existing 43 forces in England and Wales to be consolidated into bigger and more effective units

The head of the Metropolitan Police will on Friday demand the government press ahead with plans for a sharp reduction in the number of police forces after objections from Prime Minister Andy Burnham and local mayors slowed the planned consolidation.

Sir Mark Rowley will make the call for the existing 43 forces in England and Wales to be cut to between eight and 10 regional forces at an event in Manchester. He will appear alongside Greater Manchester's chief constable, the head of the National Police Chiefs' Council and the heads of two small police forces that have said their forces should be merged with larger neighbours.

However, Rowley's position has been criticised by Kim McGuinness, mayor of North East England, who said a shift to "very big forces" would restrict local accountability.

The police chiefs are holding the event after Burnham raised questions on taking office about plans for a comprehensive consolidation of police forces set out by home secretary Shabana Mahmood in a white paper in January.

Mahmood had commissioned former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe to compile a report recommending how best to structure future police forces to create bigger, more effective units.

Hogan-Howe had been expected to recommend a cut to roughly the eight to ten forces that Rowley favours.

However, after Burnham, previously mayor of Greater Manchester, took office, his cabinet passed a statement on local devolution that prompted ministers to ask Hogan-Howe to revisit his proposals.

Some ministers and many elected mayors want to ensure future force boundaries align with those of the combined authority areas overseen by directly elected mayors.

Such a structure could produce a less radical reshaping, with about 20 forces surviving.

There has also been speculation that a full-scale restructuring might be abandoned entirely in favour of some piecemeal mergers and the formation of a National Police Service to handle the most serious cases.

Rowley is expected to warn that without a cut to the small number he favours, policing would grow less effective.

"I believe this is a choice between the third-greatest revolution in British policing or the inevitable decline and fewer bobbies on the beat," he will say, according to extracts released overnight.

Among those speaking alongside Rowley will be Greater Manchester's Sir Stephen Watson, Cleveland Police chief constable Victoria Fuller and Maggie Blyth, temporary chief constable of Gloucestershire.

Blyth told the FT in October that her force was a suitable target for a "merger-acquisition" because of its small size, limited finances and decrepit IT systems. Fuller has said her force should become part of a larger, more flexible force.

However, McGuinness said a "locally accountable police force" was the "cornerstone of the criminal justice system" and criticised the Met's record.

"What we definitely do not need is the head of London's very troubled police force coming north and telling us how policing should work," she told the FT. "If you move to a handful of very big forces you will risk losing the ability for local people to have their say."

The Home Office indicated it was considering Hogan-Howe's report and said the planned reforms would deliver "strong local policing" as well as "more resilient forces providing specialist capabilities to tackle serious and complex crime threats".