Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has told MPs she wants to press ahead with recruiting a chief for the National Police Service (SNP), which she wants to be ready to launch by 2029
Shabana Mahmood has told MPs she wants to appoint the head of a new ‘British FBI’ as soon as possible – with the high-tech force set to be ready for launch by 2029.
The Home Secretary said legislation to create the new National Police Service (NPS), which will lead on national organised crime and terrorism, is currently being drawn up. Ms Mahmood told the cross-party Home Affairs Committee she wants to have a new commissioner in place swiftly.
She said: “It’s the intention that most of the operational readniness will be done by the end of this Parliament. I wish to appoint a commissioner-designate as quickly as possible once we’ve got the bill introduced to Parliament.”
And Ms Mahmood told MPs that drafting of the Police Reform Bill – which will see the NPS set up alongside a shake-up of the 43 forces in England and Wales – is “well underway”.
In January Ms Mahmood announced the NPS would focus on putting Britain’s most dangerous criminals behind bars. She argued this would free up overstretched local forces to focus on crime in their area, such as anti-social behaviour which blights the lives of people across the country.
An independent review is currently being carried out into proposals to slash the number of police forces in England and Wales. But Ms Mahmood told MPs that the government’s position has changed since Andy Burnham became PM, with more emphasis on transferring power to regional leaders.
As Mayor of Greater Manchester, the Prime Minister was responsible for overseeing Greater Manchester Police. Ms Mahmood said: “The case for police reform remains unchanged. The case has been the same for some time. Now we have a system where we’ve got 43 police forces that have to be good at providing a local response and national-level functions… it’s very difficult to do both of these things to a sufficiently high standard.”
But she said former Met Police chief constable Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe will “re-test” the government’s evidence as part of a review of the government’s policing proposals. Ms Mahmood told MPs that setting up the NPS is expected to cost £340million, with two thirds of the money already committed.
The rest will coming from the next spending review, she said. “I’m confident that the numbers are there and this is a fully-funded programme.”
In January Ms Mahmood said the sweeping reforms will also see the launch of Regional Crime Hubs, to go after criminals who operate across borders and commit the most serious and complex crimes.
She said at the time: “We will create a new National Police Service – dubbed ‘the British FBI’ – deploying world class talent and state of the art technology to track down and catch dangerous criminals. In doing so, local forces will be able to spend more time fighting crime in their communities.”
The Home Office has said the new nationwide bureau will bring together the powers of the National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing, Regional Organised Crime Units, police helicopters and National Road Policing.
It will share technology and intelligence and set its sights on complex crime. The force will be led by a National Police Commissioner – the country’s most senior police officer.