Policing in the UK: Current structures and proposals for reform

All police officers (no matter their rank) hold the office of constable. It is from the ‘office of constable’ that each officer derives their powers, such as powers to search and detain people. They are expected to use their powers without fear or favour or improper political interference.

Every police constable is a member of a police force, led by a chief constable. Police forces are operationally independent from government and Parliament. This means that police officers should make decisions about criminal investigations and the use of their powers without political interference.

How is policing structured in the UK?

England and Wales are divided into 43 policing areas, each with their own force. These are:

• the Metropolitan Police Service (covering most of London) and the City of London Police (covering areas controlled by the City of London Corporation)
• 37 other police forces in England
• four police forces in Wales

Police Scotland and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) are the police forces for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

There are also three specialist police forces, responsible for the railway network, civil nuclear sites and Ministry of Defence sites.

How do police forces work together?

Police forces must coordinate their efforts when investigating crimes across borders, responding to major public order events or tackling particularly complex and serious crime.

Some police forces enter into collaboration agreements with other forces to pool their resources, enhance cooperation and achieve economies of scale.

‘Mutual aid’ agreements also enable police forces to loan their officers to another force to help manage increased demand, for example to respond to large scale protests or disorder. Police forces also work with the National Crime Agency to tackle serious and organised crime in the UK.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) is the co-ordinating body for all police forces in the UK and publishes policies and strategies on operational policing matters that are adopted by all police forces. The College of Policing is the professional body for policing in England and Wales and shares knowledge and good practice within the policing community.

Who oversees the work of the police?

The Home Secretary is responsible for allocating funding, setting national policing priorities and managing legislation relating to policing structures and powers.

Local elected policing bodies (either a police and crime commissioner or a regional mayor) set budgets for each force, determine local priorities and scrutinise their chief constables.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) provides independent scrutiny of police performance and the Independent Office for Police Conduct is responsible for maintaining public confidence in the police complaints system in England and Wales.

There are different structures in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

How does the government propose reforming the structure of policing?

On 26 January 2026, the Home Office published a white paper on police reform, From local to national: a new model for policing.

The proposals include significantly reducing the number of police forces in England and Wales, by merging existing forces into larger regional police forces. The government does not propose what the new geographies of these larger forces will be. Instead, it has set up an independent review that will consider the best way to organise regional police forces. This should report in the summer of 2026.

In addition, the government proposes merging the National Crime Agency, College of Policing and the NPCC into a new National Police Service, which will lead on serious and organised crime and counter terrorism. The National Police Service would be established as a police force, led by a chief officer called the National Police Commissioner.

The proposed changes would represent the biggest reform to policing structures in England and Wales since the 1960s and 70s, when Parliament legislated to merge the old patchwork of forces into the current 43-police force model. Since then, various national policing bodies have been established to support coordination and improve standards across all 43 forces, but the 43-police force model itself has not changed.

Generally, senior police officers have called for reforms to the existing police force model. For example, in his Annual Assessment of Policing in England and Wales 2024–25, Andy Cooke, the then HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said the current 43-police force model system leads to “inefficiencies, duplication and inconsistencies”. Both Sir Mark Rowley, Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Gavin Stephens, Chair of the NPCC have also both argued for major reforms to the policing model.

Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary, announced the white paper in an oral statement to Parliament. In response, Chris Philp, Shadow Home Secretary, said police force mergers would not help tackle increases in crimes such as shoplifting and phone theft. He said:

The simple fact is this: total police officer numbers are falling under this Home Secretary’s watch. As a result, 999 response times and crime investigations will suffer. Shoplifting, phone-snatching and sex offences are all rising under this Government. Regional mega-forces will make things worse, not better. Her grand plans will not even be fully implemented until 2034, but action is needed today. These announcements will not make our streets safer this year or next year, and the public will see that rapidly.

How else does the government propose reforming policing?

The white paper also makes several other proposals for reforming policing, including to:

• scrap police and crime commissioners and establish new policing and crime boards (made up of mayoral authorities and council leaders)
• give a new power to HMICFRS to issue “directions” to police forces that fail to implement recommendations
• re-establish a power for the Home Secretary to force a chief constable to resign or retire
• require police officers to hold a ‘licence to practice’, which will involve mandatory training requirements for officers to continue to serve
• deliver a police national workforce strategy, with a focus on ensuring recruitment of both neighbourhood police officers and specialists that can support the police to respond to modern threats

More broadly, the paper signals a greater willingness for the Home Office to take a “hands on” approach to policing, by setting national guarantees and priorities underpinned by targets. A police performance framework has been published alongside the paper.

The government says these changes are necessary to respond to falling public confidence in the police, poor police performance and to changing patterns in crime.

Further reading: Stakeholder commentary on police reform white paper Policing bodies

APCC Chair responds to announcement of Chair of police force mergers review, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, 4 March 2026

City of London responds to police reform White Paper, City of London Police, 27 January 2026

IOPC statement in response to Government's White Paper, Independent Office for Police Conduct, 27 January 2026

AI centre for policing will help catch more criminals quicker, National Police Chiefs’ Council, 27 January 2026

Welsh PCCs statement on Police reform, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner North Wales, 27 January 2026

PDS Welcomes Police Reform White Paper, Police Digital Service, 27 January 2026

A message from our Chief Constable in response to the publication of the Police Reform White Paper, Thames Valley Police, 27 January 2026

APCC Chair statement on police reform, Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, 26 January 2026

Our response to government's police reform proposals, College of Policing, 26 January 2026

National Police Service – joint statement, Counter Terrorism Policing, 26 January 2026

Police Federation responds to police reform white paper, Police Federation, 26 January 2026

Our response to plans to create a National Police Service, National Police Chiefs’ Council, 25 January 26

Voluntary organisations and think tanks

A new national police force is the right move, but the case for merging local forces is much weaker, Institute for Government, 29 January 2026

Ambition and coherence – but can reform on this scale land, and will it deliver for the public?, The Police Foundation, 28 January 2026

Refuge responds to Police reform white paper, Refuge, 28 January 2026

Our response to the government's White Paper on police reform, Victim Support, 27 January 2026

Domestic Abuse Commissioner responds to police reform white paper, Domestic Abuse Commissioner, 26 January 2026

Other commentary

Five things to know about the review of police structures, Emergency Services Times, 23 March 2026

Police reform is far too important to be left to the police, The Times, 16 March 2026 [subscription required]

Ian Miller: Police reform questions unresolved, Local Government Chronicle, 10 March 2026

Series: The reform of UK policing, Policing Insight, various articles [subscription required]