Exclusive:'Too big': regions would push back on single Yorkshire police force
Regional leaders would push back on the region’s four police forces being consolidated into a single constabulary, The Yorkshire Post understands.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is considering reforms to the current model with 43 forces across England and Wales, which she has described as “irrational”.
Ms Mahmood said the set up had led to a “postcode lottery”, with attention being diverted away from neighbourhood policing.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has long been pushing for bigger forces across the country.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council has also backed these calls, with chair Gavin Stephens saying: “At the moment, the system is not resilient, so I would absolutely argue for bigger, capable forces led by a stronger national centre.”
According to the Times, the Home Secretary has delayed the publication of police reform until the new year as she wants to make bolder changes.
The paper says this could include reducing the number of forces across England and Wales down to just 12, with one single constabulary covering the whole of Yorkshire and the Humber.
Currently there are four forces across the region, which stretches 126 miles from the Yorkshire Dales to the banks of the Humber.
Home Office sources pushed back on this as a possibility, saying it was “pure speculation”.
However, it is understood that should the pan-Yorkshire force be on the table, local and regional leaders would push back on this proposition.
One Yorkshire Labour source told this paper that the super force “would be too big” and the different “areas’ challenges are unique and nuanced”.
North Yorkshire Police has its own rural crime taskforce, while in West Yorkshire much of the policing is focused on the major cities of Leeds and Bradford.
The source feared it would “hamper efforts to ingrain early intervention and prevention work in policing and communities”.
It is understood that so far discussions around police reform have focused on aligning forces with new metro mayors, following the abolition of police and crime commissioners (PCC) in 2028.
The role, which in some parts of the region is elected directly by voters, is designed to scrutinise local forces.
However, across much of the country these powers have been given over to mayors.
Currently, three of Yorkshire’s four metro mayors have PCC powers in West, South and North Yorkshire.
Therefore if one single force was created covering the whole of Yorkshire, it would be unclear how it would be scrutinised.
Hull and East Yorkshire Mayor Luke Campbell does not have PCC powers, and Humberside Police cover parts of Greater Lincolnshire as well as the Reform leader’s patch.
There is a similar crossover in the Tees Valley, where Durham Constabulary police Darlington instead of Cleveland Police.
The Home Office is reportedly looking to align mayors with police forces as a first port of call with the reforms.
It is also considering beefing up the role of the National Crime Agency in tackling organised gangs, and giving central bodies more powers.