Four more police mergers?

On Monday Bedfordshire Police Authority, which oversees policing across the county, agreed to create joint teams for major crime, professional standards, firearms, and scientific services.

Hertfordshire Police Authority has already agreed the plan, and Cambridgeshire Police Authority will vote on them next week.

The three forces are part of a strategic alliance, which it is hoped will deliver savings of around £15-20million from their combined budgets over the next five years.

These latest proposed changes would save around £585,000 in Bedfordshire, and nearly £2.5million over the three counties.

The professional standards team would be based in Biggleswade, while there would be a joint vetting unit in Letchworth Police Station.

A joint training team for firearms would be based in Kempston, but with locations also in Huntingdon and Welwyn. Across the three forces there would be eight fewer sergeants and five less constables.

Scientific services would have a single senior management team, a tenprint unit based at Kempston, finger print bureaus in Hinchingbrooke and Welwyn, and a forensic research unit in Sandy.

The major crime unit would behave hubs in Welwyn and Cambridgeshire.

A spokesman for Beds Police said: “We have got a three-way strategic policing alliance which all three forces have signed up to, in order to see how we can work together to improve services and save money.

“This is a continuation of that.”

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