Police Act 1964

A Royal Commission on the Police had been appointed in 1960 under the chairmanship of Henry Willink to "review the constitutional position of the police throughout Great Britain".

The appointment of the commission followed two high-profile scandals involving borough police forces. These exposed problems in the relationship between the chief constable and watch committee of each borough, and disputes between central and local government over the control of local forces. In 1958, following a trial into police corruption in Brighton, the presiding judge stated that the judiciary could have no faith in police evidence until the chief constable had been replaced.[1] Brighton Watch Committee complained that they could not properly supervise the force, as they had no access to the annual report of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, which was sent to the Home Secretary.[2] In 1959 the watch committee of Nottingham suspended the city's chief constable, Athelstan Popkess, when he refused to furnish a report on his investigations into alleged corruption of councillors.[3] Details of the investigation were however leaked to the press on the eve of municipal elections. The committee were subsequently forced to reinstate Popkess when the Home Secretary, Rab Butler, threatened to withdraw central government funding.[4]

Among the particular subjects for investigation by the commission were:

• The constitution and functions of police authorities
• The accountability of police officers including chief constables
• The relationship of the police to the public and procedures for dealing with complaints
• The remuneration of police constables[5]

The commission published its final report on 31 May 1962. This recommended an urgent review on the number and size of police areas. Among its recommendations were:

• No single national force was to be formed, but central government should exercise more powers over local forces
• Retention of small police forces of between 200 and 350 officers "justifiable only by special circumstances such as the distribution of the population and the geography of the area"
• The optimum size for a police force was more than 500 members, with the police area having a population of at least 250,000
• There was "a case" for single police forces for major conurbations
• A large reduction in the number of forces in Scotland was needed, to between 20 and 33

The commission noted that of 158 police forces in Great Britain, 97 had an establishment of less than 350.[6]

The Act received royal assent on 10 June 1964.[7] Among its provisions were:

• England and Wales, outside London, was to consist of "police areas". These were to be administrative counties, county boroughs or "combined police areas", consisting of combinations of counties and county boroughs.
• The Home Secretary had the power to force compulsory amalgamation schemes from 1 July 1964.
• New "police authorities" were to be established: these were to be known as watch committees (in boroughs), police committees (in counties - replacing joint standing committees) or combined police authorities.
• Police authorities were to consist of two-thirds elected members and one-third magistrates. Previously all members of watch committees had been councillors or aldermen, while county SJCs were fifty percent county councillors and aldermen, fifty percent magistrates.
• The police authorities had fewer powers than their predecessors, especially the boroughs, with the Home Secretary taking on more supervision than before. The authority were required to maintain an efficient police force, but had no operational role.
• Chief constables were given the power to appoint, direct and control special constables.
• The chief constable could appoint police cadets with the permission of the authority.
• The chief constable was required to make an annual report to the police authority.
• A police authority could also request other reports on policing in the police area.
• Police authorities were empowered to choose chief constables, deputy and assistant chief constables from a Home Office shortlist. They could also require the Chief Constable to retire, subject to the Home Secretary's approval.
• The Home Secretary could order a complaint against a police force to be investigated by officers of another force.

On 10 July 1964, the Home Secretary, Henry Brooke, announced he would be using his powers under the Act to amalgamate the county borough forces of Luton and Northampton with the county forces of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire respectively.

Luton's force had only been formed on 1 April, when it became a county borough, but Mr Brooke said he did not regard the continuance of its existence as in the best interests of policing efficiency.[8] The amalgamations were vigorously, but unsuccessfully, opposed by the boroughs: Luton's campaign went as far as serving a High Court writ on the Home Secretary in an attempt to stop the merger.[9]

In the meantime, the first amalgamation under the Act took place on 1 April 1965 as the result of local government reorganisation, with the formation of the Mid Anglia Constabulary.

Following a change in government at the general election, Frank Soskice became Home Secretary. In 1965 he announced that Exeter City's force would be merged with that of Devon. In addition to the Bedfordshire/Luton, Devon/Exeter, and Northamptonshire/Northampton mergers, 1966 saw the establishment of a new West Midlands Constabulary covering the county boroughs of Dudley, Walsall, Warley, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton, which had been constituted or enlarged by local government reorganisation.

Several of the amalgamated forces formed under the 1964 Act had short existences, as a wholesale reorganisation of local government in England and Wales outside London was carried out in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. Police areas were realigned to correspond to one or more of the non-metropolitan or metropolitan counties created by the 1972 legislation. The sections on the composition of police authorities were repealed by the Police and Magistrates' Courts Act 1994, and new authorities constituted.