The Home Secretary will get new powers to send ‘crack squads’ of experts into failing police forces under new reforms to be announced next week.
Shabana Mahmood’s new policing White Paper will set out new measures to bring under-performing forces up to scratch.
The Home Secretary had already announced earlier this month – in the wake of criticism of West Midlands Police’s handling of the Maccabi Tel Aviv match in Birmingham last year – that she would take new powers to directly sack chief constables.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Under new measures, the police will be made accountable to the Home Secretary.
‘Ministers will be handed new powers to intervene directly in failing forces, sending in specialist teams to turn them around so they fight crime more effectively. ‘
They added that it would allow the Cabinet minister to ‘send crack squads into failing forces to turn them around and sack chief constables’.
The experts who will be despatched to failing areas will be senior officers from the best-performing police forces, it is understood.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to announce sweeping police reforms on Monday
They could focus on improving crime detention rates or police response times, for example.
In separate measures, there will be a new set of policing targets.
It marks a new direction for the Home Office which since the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown era has shied away from imposing centralised targets.
Under the new measures, chief constables will have to meet new minimum thresholds for 999 response times, victim satisfaction, public trust and confidence.
‘These results will be published and forces graded so communities can compare,’ the Home Office spokesman confirmed.
His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Fire and Rescue Services will also gain statutory powers to issue directions to forces if they fail to act on recommendations.
In addition there will be ‘robust’ mandatory vetting procedures for police officers in the wake of a series of shocking examples of offending or corruption.
Home Secretary Ms Mahmood said: ‘It is essential that the people can determine what they expect from their forces.
‘I will make police forces accountable to parliament – driving up standards so they fight more crime in their communities.’
The Daily Mail earlier reported this week how the reforms will slash the number of police forces in England and Wales.
The existing 43 police forces will undergo a series of mergers in the most wide-ranging changes since the 1960s.
It is not yet known how many police forces will remain, but it is widely expected to be as few as 10.
Police from best-performing forces will be sent into failing areas by the Home Secretary to drive up standards
Each new regional force will specialise in complex crimes such as murder investigations and organised crime.
But within each new larger force there will be ‘local policing areas’ created to focus on community problems such as shoplifting, mobile phone theft and anti-social behaviour.
The Home Office believes the mergers will save money on backroom administrative functions which can then be redirected to neighbourhood policing.
An independent review will be set up to determine the new number of forces, but concern has been raised that Ms Mahmood’s policing shake-up will come with huge initial costs and absorb vast amounts of senior officers’ time for years.
The last major reform of policing structures saw a series of amalgamations between 1964 to 1966, with the number fall from 158 forces to the existing 43 forces.
Further mergers have been discussed for more than 20 years.
The Home Office launched a plan to reduce the total to 24 forces in 2005 but it was dropped by then home secretary John Reid the following year.
