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Arms Length Bodies

Asked by Mike WoodConservativeCabinet OfficeTabled Answered 28 November 2025UIN 92596

The question

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the guidance entitled the approvals process for the creation of new arm's-length bodies, published on 15 March 2018, whether the Cabinet Office Public Bodies Team assessed the National Centre of Policing against the requirement that the creation of a new arms length body should only be considered as a last resort; whether the Department provided evidence that alternative delivery models were considered; and which of the tests in chapter 2 of that guidance it overcame.

Answered by Anna Turley

The initial intention to explore a National Centre of Policing was announced by the then Home Secretary at the APCC/NPCC Conference in November 2024, as part of outlining their ambition for police reform. The Home Office will publish a White Paper on Police Reform in due course. If those proposals include establishing a new Arm's Length Body (ALB), then the standard process for establishing an ALB will be followed.

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