CORNWALL should have its own police force – and not be absorbed into a larger South West super-constabulary – senior councillors have said, following the Home Secretary’s announcement of sweeping national policing reforms.

The call was made after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood unveiled plans to overhaul what she described as a “broken” policing model in England and Wales. Her proposals include the creation of a new National Police Service (NPS) and a dramatic reduction in the number of local police forces, potentially cutting them by around two-thirds.

At a meeting of Cornwall Council’s corporate finance scrutiny committee, Mebyon Kernow leader Cllr Dick Cole asked: “I was wondering what this authority is doing in terms of the announcement yesterday by the Home Secretary about policing reforms?

“I believe the announcement is suggesting that the present Devon and Cornwall Police force is going to be merged and made much larger when actually – given our National Minority status – should we not be putting a line in the sand and saying we’d like a Cornish police force please?”

Cornwall Council’s Liberal Democrat leader Cllr Leigh Frost replied: “I think it’s a fair comment you raise – a larger force is probably not the right thing.”

He suggested with Government changes, such as getting rid of police and crime commissioners, it could be time to see a “blue lights” reorganisation, meaning there’s a Cornwall-only police force.

“That’s something we’d have to look into to see how achievable and workable that is,” added Cllr Frost.

Concerns were raised the reforms could lead to policing being controlled from outside the county. Cllr Cole said there was already talk of a South West force potentially being run from Bristol, further distancing decision-making from Cornish communities.

Committee chair Cllr Julian German revealed Cornwall Council had previously written to the police minister asking for the de-merger of Devon and Cornwall Police. He said the authority had received a positive response at the time, including encouragement to bring forward a business case.

“We’ve previously put forward for a combined fire, police and ambulance service on a Cornwall footprint to drive those efficiencies across the public sector by bringing emergency services together,” he said. “It could be an interesting time to revive those conversations.”

However, not all elements of the Home Secretary’s plan were viewed negatively. Committee deputy chairman and Cornish Independent Non-Aligned Group member Cllr Rob Parsonage noted there has been a suggestion that there will be local area head offices, “which will go a long way to take us back to having local policing, so there is a positive in there which we need to take into account”.

Nationally, the reforms mark the most significant changes to policing in nearly 200 years. The proposed National Police Service would bring together the National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing and several national policing bodies, freeing up local forces to focus on everyday crime.

The Government also plans the largest-ever rollout of live facial recognition technology, funding 40 new mobile units across England and Wales, alongside the creation of a National Centre for AI in policing.