Archived decisions
Hampshire Police Authority - Government Review of Size and Boundaries
I am pleased to report that the Home Secretary has announced that the Hampshire Police Authority retains its `stand alone' status and will be a strategic authority and force in its own right.
As reported to the County Council at its meeting in January 2006, the Home Secretary had required all police authorities and forces to submit options for the improved delivery of `Protective Services' within a new organisation structure called a `Strategic Force'. (Protective Services essentially concern counter terrorism, major crime investigations, serious organised crime and emergency resilience.) The trigger for this work had been the HMIC report `Closing the Gap' on the capacity and capability of Police Forces to deliver the range of protective services to the standards defined by Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).
The Home Secretary's announcement means that the Hampshire Police Authority and the Constabulary have successfully demonstrated that they will be able to deliver these protective services effectively in the future without impacting on level 1 performance and neighbourhood policing. (Level 1 performance relates to local policing.) From the Home Office's statement on 20 March about police force restructuring, however, its is clear that much work remains to be done in response to the ministerial vision for the police service in the 21st Century.
Whilst `stand alone', strategic status has been secured, the Authority will need to respond to a range of issues as it adjusts to meet the Government's expectations. There will be changes to the Authority's functions through the Government's implementation of proposals in the `Building Communities, Beating Crime' White Paper and there may be changes to the Authority's own constitution and membership. Whilst the functions of strategic police authorities will remain as set out in the Police Act 1996 and elsewhere, the Home Secretary expects authorities to focus on the really critical strategic issues, setting the overarching priorities for the Constabulary and the budget and determining the level of precept. The Police and Justice Bill reinforces these core functions by placing the duty on police authorities to hold the chief officer to account.
The Authority is very grateful to the County Council and all those other organisations and individuals who lobbied in support of the Authority retaining its `stand alone' status and looks forward to meeting successfully the challenges which lie ahead.