Police forces to be slashed in sweeping reforms

The number of police constabularies in the UK is set to be slashed in what is understood to be the largest overhaul of policing in decades.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will reveal plans next week for reform that will significantly cut the number of forces down from 43. Critics have long argued the current model is bureaucratic and wastes too much money - and some inside government believe smaller forces are not equipped to deal with serious crimes.

It is understood the reforms would involve merging back-office functions to free up resources to be invested in more police officers. Ministers will also reveal plans for Local Policing Areas - which allow officers to focus on neighbourhood policing.

These will be set up across the country to deal with lower level "local crime" such as shoplifting and anti-social behaviour. The plans - which the Conservatives say risk "undermining efforts to fight crime" - will not come into place until around 2034, insiders have warned.

The shift in strategy marks the latest development in ongoing tensions between the police and the home secretary - who last week welcomed plans to allow her to force the resignation of chief constables. Earlier, a government source pointed to Wiltshire Police, which needed support from 40 other forces to respond to the Salisbury poisonings in 2018, as well as vast differences in charge rates for some offences.

They said: "Under this new structure, all forces - regardless of where they are - will have the tools and resources they need to fight serious crime. "Where you live will no longer determine the outcomes you get from your force." It is unclear exactly how many forces will operate under the new framework but an independent review will be announced to look at precise details.

Read more from Sky News:Trump sues JPMorgan ChaseBristol man died tying flags to lamp post Similar cuts have been proposed as long as 20 years ago, when then home secretary Charles Clarke suggested cutting the number of forces to 12. But the plans were scrapped by his successor John Reid just four months later after the proposed merger of Lancashire and Cumbria police forces collapsed and senior officers turned against the idea.

Allies of Ms Mahmood stressed her commitment to the reforms, but Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said there was "no evidence" that merging police forces would cut crime or improve performance. He said: "Top-down reorganisation risks undermining efforts to fight crime, inevitably leading to centralised control that will hit towns and villages across the country hardest.

"The biggest force, the Met, has the lowest crime solving rates and falling police numbers. Big is not necessarily better.".