The UK government has presented the White Paper “From Local to National: A New Model for Policing“, which establishes the most profound reforms of the police system since its professionalisation two centuries ago. Announced by the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, these measures aim to adapt the police to an increasingly complex, digital, and transnational criminal environment, while strengthening community policing and citizen trust.

One of the pillars of the reform is the structural review of the police map. Currently, England and Wales have 43 local forces, a model that the government considers fragmented and inefficient. The White Paper proposes to drastically reduce this number through mergers, with the aim of improving efficiency, reducing costs, and ensuring a more coherent and homogeneous response throughout the territory.
This reorganisation aims to free up resources to strengthen Neighbourhood Policing and the fight against local crime, returning the police to its fundamental principles: visible presence, community knowledge, and rapid response to incidents.
The most ambitious reform is the creation of a new National Police Service, designed to tackle the most serious and complex crimes, such as organised crime, terrorism, digital crime, and threats that transcend local borders.
This new service will integrate, under a single structure, capabilities that have until now been dispersed, such as the National Crime Agency, Counter-Terrorism policing, regional organised crime units, road policing, and police air services. The result will be a national force with improved capacity to share intelligence, technology, and resources.
At the head of the National Police Service, there will be a national commissioner, who will become the highest police authority in the country. One of its key functions will be to take over the centralised management of forensic policing, including digital forensics, to reduce delays —currently with tens of thousands of devices pending analysis— and ensure uniform technical standards.
The new national model will eliminate the duplication of recruitment and technology acquisition processes. Instead of each force purchasing its own equipment, the National Police Service will acquire materials and ICT systems centrally, generating economies of scale.
The Government estimates that these measures will allow for savings of up to 350 million pounds, which will be reinvested directly in frontline policing and in the fight against crime.
The White Paper significantly reinforces accountability mechanisms. Ministers will have new powers to intervene in underperforming forces, including the ability to dismiss police chiefs who do not meet the required standards.
Clear and comparable indicators on response times, crime resolution, victim satisfaction, and public trust will be introduced. These results will be published and will allow citizens to compare the performance of the forces.
At the same time, the individual standards of rural agents will be strengthened by:
- mandatory and stricter verification controls,
- exclusion from the profession of individuals with a history of violence against women and girls,
- mandatory suspension of agents under investigation for these crimes,
- and the introduction of a renewable professional license, similar to that of other regulated professions.
The reform establishes new national response objectives: arrival at serious incidents within a maximum of 15 minutes in urban areas and 20 minutes in rural areas, and response to emergency calls in less than 10 seconds.
In addition, the Neighbourhood Police Guarantee is expanded, ensuring that each electoral district has assigned, identifiable, and accessible officers with a deep understanding of local issues. The Government is also promoting a programme to recruit university graduates, inspired by the Teach First model, to attract young talent to community policing roles.
With an investment of over £140 million, the Government is committed to police technology. They highlight the expansion of live facial recognition, the deployment of artificial intelligence tools to analyse images and digital evidence, and the creation of the national centre Police.
These tools will reduce bureaucratic burdens and return millions of hours of work to the front line of policing, increasing the presence of officers on the street.
Finally, the White Paper introduces new national leadership in public order, with the capacity to coordinate resources in situations of serious disorder, and significantly strengthens support for the mental health of the officers. There is also a goal to revitalize the Special Police, particularly by incorporating technical profiles and cybersecurity experts, to more effectively combat modern crime.
Overall, the White Paper outlines a profound structural change: a more centralised police force for major crimes, closer to citizens at the local level, with higher standards, more technology, and stricter governance. An ambitiously designed model to respond to the security challenges of the 21st century.
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