Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to ensure that coastal and rural areas are effectively supported by centralised police forces.

The Police Reform White Paper, published on 26 January 2026, set out an ambitious package of reform, including an ambition to significantly reduce the number of police forces across England and Wales by the end of next Parliament.

We will shortly launch an Independent Review of Police Force Structures, which will make recommendations on the optimum number and configuration of forces. This will consider a wide range of evidence in making its recommendations by Summer.

These larger forces will be comprised of Local Policing Areas, with policing teams focused exclusively on local policing issues, ensuring that every community is served by visible and responsible neighbourhood officers. We will also establish Local Policing Guarantees that will set out the minimum levels of service the public should expect to receive from their police force, regardless of where they live.