Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner criticises police reforms
Matthew Barber says proposals risk removing focus from neighbourhood policing
Last updated 27th Jan 2026
Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber has criticised the Home Secretary's proposals for major reform to policing in England and Wales.
He raised concerns that the structural changes could fail to address key local issues and add considerable costs.
The reforms include plans to establish a National Police Service (NPS), which has been called the "British FBI."
This new national force would tackle organised crime, fraud, and counter-terrorism by consolidating the work of the National Crime Agency (NCA) and other units.
Matthew Barber acknowledged advantages in this but questioned its necessity.
"Bringing together some of those functions we already have regionally and putting them into a national service makes some sense, but because we already have the National Crime Agency I would argue if we really need to create a new body to do these things," he said.
The proposals also include reducing the number of police forces by merging them into larger regional entities, which was one of his main criticisms.
For Thames Valley, Mr Barber assumed it would mean combining with Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex, and Kent.
"So a police force responsible for everything from Milton Keynes to the Isle of Wight and Banbury over to Margate - a vast area policing millions of people and yet what the public really want is us to continue to improve neighbourhood policing," he said.
While the Home Office said having 43 forces with separate headquarters is wasting money that could be reinvested in the frontline, Matthew Barber believes the process of merging will add extra costs during consultancy.
He also said that by joining forces and potentially having to equalise council tax for policing across the South East, local people would end up paying more.
The Government emphasised that they are looking to reform "an outdated policing system that is incoherent and fragmented," but Mr Barber warned the proposals could reduce essential local policing resources at the expense of centralised structures.
He highlighted that while it is important to have national bodies against serious crimes, there must still be officers on the ground to respond.
"You will still need that local PCSO in the community to spot the vehicle that everybody's been looking for. You still need the police officer to make that identification; to pick up that bit of local intelligence and ultimately, you're still going to need our local police officers to kick the door in and make those arrests on the day. So policing is fundamentally local, even if the problem is one of national intelligence," he said.
Finally, he expressed strong disapproval of the decision to restore the Home Secretary's power to sack failing chief constables.
The Home Office said: "The intention is not to undermine local accountability, but to provide a safety net where local mechanisms have failed."
However, Matthew Barber said: "That is completely contrary to the Peelian Principles that established policing in this country and is a risk of real politicisation of policing."