By Danny Shaw BBC home affairs correspondent

A pay dispute has soured relations with the government

As they look out from their hotel windows onto the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course below, the superintendents at this year's annual conference in Cheshire could be forgiven for thinking that all was well with the world of policing.

The Carden Park Hotel, about 10 miles from Chester, has some of the most beautifully cared for greens in the country - far away from the stresses and strains of police station life.

No wonder the superintendents have chosen the hotel as their conference venue for the third time.

But the supers - as they are sometimes known - are in a state of uncertainty, with many key issues undecided or unresolved.

'Sorry episode'

Arguably the most significant issue is the structure of the police service in England and Wales.

At last year's conference, the supers could see a "brave new world" on the horizon, with fewer but bigger police forces, able to deal more effectively with cross-border crime, terrorism and organised criminals.

The then Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, was in favour; so were most chief constables. On paper at least it seemed to make sense.

In simple terms, it's about getting fully sworn police to do jobs that only cops can do

But the plans were being rushed through amid opposition from police authorities and some police forces.

When Mr Clarke was sacked, his replacement, John Reid, swiftly abandoned them, as he focused instead on re-moulding the immigration service and the workings of the Home Office itself.

The Superintendents Association - who had backed mergers - want to know what Mr Reid plans to put in their place.

Rick Naylor, in his last conference as the association's president, doesn't believe that the main alternative - "collaboration" between forces involving closer working, sharing facilities and personnel - will work.

Will a big force really lend detectives to a small force whose resources are stretched by, say, a series of homicides?

In Mr Naylor's view the demise of the mergers plan was a "sorry episode" that has removed one of the legs of the stool of the police reform process, leaving the police in limbo.

'Radical approach'

Then, there's police workforce "modernisation".

In simple terms, it's about getting fully-sworn police to do jobs that only cops can do - patrolling neighbourhoods, investigating crimes - and getting civilians to do specialist duties including interviewing suspects, searching for evidence, and preparing case files for court.

They want a lead from the Home Office and called on Mr Reid, in his first address to the conference, to provide it

The supers are in favour of this radical approach, which a few forces have already adopted on a small scale.

But they want a lead from the Home Office and called on Mr Reid, in his first address to the conference, to provide it.

In particular, they asked him to allow police forces to spend money allocated for recruiting police on civilians instead.

The Home Secretary said he would discuss the matter, but went no further than that. It may be progress, but it is not at the pace the superintendents want.

The backdrop to these two issues is the thorny issue of pay: in spite of weeks of negotiation, police have not received an increase that reflects the rate of private sector wage rises - for the first time since 1978.

The matter is now poised to go to arbitration - if the sides can agree the terms of reference.