Merger plans face tough opposition

Why does the Home Office want to carry out the merger?

The Home Office accepted the conclusions of a report by the Inspectorate of Constabulary, entitled Closing The Gap, published in 2005.

It found that the 43-force structure of the police service in England and Wales was "no longer fit for purpose" and that forces with fewer than 4,000 police officers were unable to meet the required standard across seven "protective" services: homicide; serious, organised and cross border crime; counter terrorism and extremism; civil contingencies; critical incidents; public order and strategic roads policing.

The report said the "best business solution" to the problem was to amalgamate smaller constabularies to form "strategic forces".

A merger of Cleveland, with just under 1,700 police officers, Durham with just over 1,700 and Northumbria with 4,000 was proposed to improve the area's capacity and capability on protective services. Durham and Northumbria are willing to merge; Cleveland is not.

Why does the Cleveland Police Authority oppose the plans?

Cleveland believes the move is "flawed" for three main reasons.

It would create a force which is too big, unwieldy and less accountable than at present; it costs too much to set up - about �40-�50m and it would take seven to 10 years before any savings could be ploughed back into protective services.

Cleveland want the home secretary to withdraw the plans for 12 months and consider other options, including a federated approach, where forces collaborate more, and reintroducing regional crime squads.

If a merger goes ahead do you think people would notice any difference on the ground?

People would notice small things - the name and emblem of their police force would be different.

But the government insists that neighbourhood policing would not be adversely affected, so local police teams would continue to deal with small-scale crime and anti-social behaviour.

Ministers point out that with bigger forces, neighbourhood police are less likely to be withdrawn to deal with major crimes.

However, opponents of merger say bigger forces are likely to be less responsive to local needs.

Will the legal challenge delay plans for other mergers to take place?

If the legal challenge succeeds it'll probably increase the chances of success for other forces taking legal action, so, yes, it could delay the government's plans.