Police: Reorganisation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 41 of the policy paper entitled From local to national: a new model for policing, published on 26 January 2026, CP 1489, what is meant by a pathfinder merger.
Answered by Sarah Jones
The Police Reform White Paper set out an ambition to move to fewer, larger forces by the end of next parliament. This included a commitment to explore opportunities to undertake pathfinder mergers by the end of this Parliament.
A pathfinder merger would take place with the support of local forces and make progress towards the proposed end state of regional forces across England and Wales.
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