Cumbria Police could be drawn into a wider restructuring of policing in England and Wales, councillors have been told – amid growing concern from local MPs about the loss of a standalone county force.
At a meeting of the Cumbria Police, Fire and Crime Panel on Monday April 20, members received an update on the Government’s White Paper 'From local to national: a new model for policing', which proposes abolishing Police, Fire and Crime Commissioners and the panels that scrutinise them.
Their functions would move to new bodies, including Policing and Crime Boards, as part of wider governance reforms.
The update, delivered as part of a panel report on recent Home Office briefings, summarised proposals on new structures, indicative timescales and future scrutiny arrangements.
Although a specific merger proposal for Cumbria has not been set out, the governance changes sit alongside national plans to reduce the current 43 forces and strengthen regional and national tiers.
Ministers have signalled they want fewer, larger forces, with more capabilities held at regional and national level.
That possibility has already prompted a response locally. Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron has said Cumbria “must not be included” in controversial plans to merge forces and warned that moving to a regional constabulary would risk officers being pulled away from rural communities.
He has argued that resources should be focused on neighbourhood policing and modern technology rather than structural change.
Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner David Allen has likewise stated that the White Paper indicates Cumbria could be considered in an independent review of force boundaries, and has made clear he opposes any merger, saying Cumbria Police is already one of the country’s stronger small forces and that “bigger forces do not automatically mean better policing”.
For now, Cumbria Constabulary remains unchanged and no formal decision has been taken on its future shape.
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