Labour has today unveiled a panel of experts to consider the future of British
policing. The review, chaired by the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Stevens, will report by spring 2013.
There are far-reaching changes underway to the institutional structure of the police. The coalition government is pursuing sweeping reforms of police pay and conditions and creating a remodelled national policing architecture, with a new National Crime Agency. The boldest reform — devolving governance to locally elected Police & Crime Commissioners (PCCs) — will have long-term implications.
In this context, and in light of budget reductions of 14 per cent over four years, any study of the fundamentals of the British policing model might seem helpful, but Labour’s review comes after the event. If Labour had established a review in summer 2010, it could have taken account of the Winsor review of pay and conditions, and the coalition’s proposed new governance model, and have its report back in time to impact policy and the parliamentary debate.
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