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Warwickshire Police deputy chief constable Neil Brunton.
WARWICKSHIRE Police has no immediate plans to merge with neighbouring West Mercia, the force’s deputy chief constable insisted this week.
But one has not been ruled out as the two on Monday began sharing what are being called back office services.
Deputy chief constable Neil Brunton said: “There has been considerable media coverage recently about ‘merger talks’ between Warwickshire Police and West Mercia Police following a conversation between a journalist and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, Ron Ball.
“The issue of a merger as well as single leadership, with one chief constable and one deputy chief constable, have featured in discussions with the PCCs.
“Merger is not currently on the agenda, however we do have the mandate to begin to explore the business case for alternative leadership models.
“The focus in the short term is to deliver and embed a new single operating model across both forces.”
The alliance was drawn up last year in a bid to cushion the impact of budget savings demanded of both forces by the government.
In March 2011, Warwickshire Police announced it had to make £23m in savings by 2015, involving up to 450 job losses.
The sharing of resources has already been described as ‘ambitious and ground-breaking’ by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies.
Mr Brunton added: “We continue to look for ways to make further savings and improve service and there are ongoing discussions with our PCCs on how this may be achieved.”
Editor's comment: >When is a merger not a merger? When it's a strategic alliance. So say Warwickshire Police and their West Mercia counterparts. If the sharing of certain services between the two works and is cost effective would it not make sense to share others, therefore leading to a merger? The precedent has already been set in the form of the West Midlands Ambulance Service which covers Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire as well as Coventry, Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country.
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