Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government has taken to encourage voluntary mergers between police forces.

Decisions on whether to merge with another police force are for individual Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Chief Constables who are accountable to their local communities and best placed to determine what would be in local interests. PCCs and Chief Constables up and down the country are demonstrating that they can deliver more efficient and effective policing through collaboration without sacrificing local accountability and identity. Requests for voluntary mergers would be considered only where they are supported by a robust business case and have community consent.