Potential for Thames Valley Police merger amid Government shakeup plans, PCC says

Thames Valley Police may need to merge with neighbouring policing authorities under national law enforcement reforms being drawn up by the Government, a meeting has heard.

Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber said there were ‘big changes coming down the tracks’ for policing which could include Thames Valley joining with other forces.

Speaking at a Burnham Parish Council meeting, Mr Barber said police force mergers were ‘one of the things being talked about nationally’ and more details could be revealed as early as this month.

UK-wide policing changes are being considered by the Government, and a white paper outlining the proposed measures had been set for publication at the end of 2025.

National media reports have suggested the number of regional police forces, presently 45 in the UK, could be slashed as part of the shakeup.

The Home Office said it would not comment on ‘speculation’ and a white paper outlining the suggested reforms would be released ‘in due course’.

Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber

A November statement from National Police Chiefs’ Council chairman chief constable Gavin Stephen, said there was a need for ‘significant structural reform of our service’.

He said policing was ‘complicated by a myriad of local, regional and national decision makers’ and there was ‘too much complication and competition in our current ways of working’.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also suggested major reforms were being considered at a conference of police leaders in November.

One of those reforms already enacted, she said, had been to abolish Police and Crime Commissioners when their elected terms in office end in 2028.

But at Tuesday’s parish council meeting in Burnham Park Hall, Mr Barber said: “There are bigger changes coming down the track though.

He told the meeting: “Look out for the news coming in the white paper next week, because it could have a big impact on policing locally.

“One of the things that’s been talked about nationally, you might have read about in the papers, is the talk about forced mergers – merging police forces together.”

A new combined force, ‘Policing South East’ Mr Barber said, ‘could mean a force that is Thames Valley, Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex’.

He added: “My personal view is that is far too big – good luck getting your stolen bike dealt with in a Government organisation of that’s of that size.”

Speaking to the Advertiser after the meeting, Mr Barber said mergers were a prospect he had discussed with Thames Valley Police Chief Constable Jason Hogg.

“I think it’s definitely something the Home office are looking to do,” he said.

“It’s something I’ve had conversations with the Chief Constable about - the ‘what if?’ scenarios.”

He added: “[The Government] are not going to come out with a map which shows what it might look like, but they will, I think, be talking about forced mergers.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “It’s our longstanding policy not to comment on speculation, and the paper is set to release in due course.”