Joint statement from North West Police and Crime Commissioners on police force merger proposals
06.11.26 - Merseyside
The Police and Crime Commissioners for Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and North Wales have united to voice their opposition to proposals calling for reforms to create a small number of mega regional police forces.
As the Police and Crime Commissioners of the North West, we are united in our opposition to proposals to merge local police forces into a small number of regional "mega-forces".
We support reform that strengthens policing, improves technology and helps tackle modern crime. However, we do not believe reducing the number of local police forces is the answer.
The Government is already proposing significant changes to policing, including a new National Police Service and enhanced national capabilities to tackle serious and organised crime, cybercrime and other complex threats.
Against that backdrop, we are deeply concerned that large-scale force mergers would be costly, complex and disruptive, diverting leadership, resources and attention away from frontline policing for years.
At a time when forces are being asked to do more with less, spending potentially hundreds of millions of pounds on restructuring policing is the wrong priority.
Every pound spent on reorganisation is a pound not spent keeping people safe.
There is no evidence that bigger automatically means better. Our communities regularly tell us about the importance of local connections, knowledge and local accountability.
The North West already benefits from strong collaboration, allowing us to tackle regional and national threats while retaining the local connections that communities value and rely upon.
What policing needs now is investment in officers, staff, technology and victim services, not years of structural upheaval.
Communities across Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and North Wales face different challenges and deserve policing that is responsive to their local needs.
We urge the Government to focus on strengthening neighbourhood policing and delivering meaningful reform, rather than pursuing force mergers that risk weakening the connection between policing and the public.
Policing is strongest when it remains close to the communities it serves. Reform should strengthen that connection, not weaken it.
