Map is redrawn

The Home Secretary has announced his proposals for amalgamations across the country reducing the number of forces from 43 to just 24. Further mergers to be announced tomorrow will reduce this to just 21.

Charles Clarke met with chief officers and chairs of police authorities affected today to inform them of his proposals.

There were reprieves for Thames Valley, Kent and Hampshire who will be allowed to remain stand-alone forces, while Mr Clarke has proposed to create two super-forces covering the whole of the East Midlands region and the four forces in Yorkshire and Humberside.

The Eastern region will be split in two to create two forces, one including Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire and one covering Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

Tomorrow the Home Secretary is expected to announce the merger of West, North and South Yorkshire with Humberside.

In a written ministerial statement Mr Clarke said, “I now have the professional policing and financial assessments to enable me to identify which options will be of the greatest benefit to three more regions, namely the East Midlands, South East and Eastern.

“I am therefore today meeting the representatives from the police forces and authorities in these areas. I will be inviting them to engage closely with me to consider taking forward the option for policing which I believe will be of greatest benefit to their communities. I will be inviting the police authorities concerned to respond by 7 April. I shall then make a final decision on how to proceed in these areas.”

Hampshire Constabulary have fought vigorously against amalgamation and said if they were to merge it should be with Dorset. This would have been crossing regional boundaries, an option ruled out early by Mr Clarke.

A press release from Hampshire Police Authority said they are delighted that the Home Secretary has accepted their professional and strong business case, which showed Hampshire can be a stand alone force, providing a policing service fit for the 21st Century.

An important part of the case submitted to the Home Office was the results of consultation with staff, residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Members of Parliament, partner agencies and local authorities, which showed overwhelming support for Hampshire to remain a stand alone strategic force.

Chairman of Hampshire Police Authority, Mike Attenborough-Cox, said: ““We put forward a very strong business case that with little investment Hampshire could be a stand alone strategic force. The Police Authority has agreed a budget that will allow that investment and will see improvements to policing in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, not only at the protective services level but also in community safety and neighbourhood policing.

Given that Hampshire and Kent have fewer than 4,000 officers and less than 6,000 total employees, there was some surprise at this decision. The report sparking force restructuring, the HMIC’s review of fitness for purpose of the current structure, said that forces with fewer than this number perform less well in areas of ‘protective services.

Kent have fewer officers at just over 3,600 but have always maintained they were capable of delivering protective services to a high level without merging with another force.

Following their meeting with Home Secretary this afternoon, Kent Police Authority Chair Ann Barnes and Chief Constable Michael Fuller have welcomed Charles Clarke’s announcement that Kent Police should be reconfigured as a single strategic police force.

Mrs Barnes said: “We have always believed that this is the right decision for the policing of Kent and we were confident in our strong case for the county to continue to have its own police force.”

Mr Fuller added: “The Home Secretary has clearly recognised our ability to provide what are termed as protective services, including dealing with major and organised crime, counter-terrorism and strategic roads policing.”

With other announcements made around force mergers and just the South West region