The future of Cleveland Police is now uncertain. It could face the biggest overhaul in decades after Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said the force will no longer exist under the new planned devolution reforms.
Speaking on BBC Radio Tees on 5 August , the Conservative mayor said there were now only two “realistic settlements” for policing across Teesside and the wider North East. His comments follow a government announcement that regional mayors will take on responsibility for policing and fire services, while Police and Crime Commissioners will be abolished at the end of their current electoral cycle.
The government also wants police force boundaries, fire and rescue services, Integrated Care Boards and strategic authorities to align by the end of this Parliament.
Mayor Houchen said Cleveland Police was unlikely to survive the reforms. “Cleveland will no longer exist as a police force,” he said, adding that this was “to my great relief” because “that clearly is not an option.”
He suggested the most likely outcome would be the creation of a new Tees Valley police force, bringing together Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool, Redcar and Cleveland with Darlington. The arrangement would mirror the Tees Valley Combined Authority area and align with proposed fire service boundaries.
The alternative, he said, would be a single police force covering the entire North East, stretching from Yarm to Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Under that model, Mayor Houchen said governance would need to be shared with North East Mayor Kim McGuinness. “There’d have to be some sort of governance arrangements where myself and Kim McGuinness come together and somehow we have joint responsibility across fire and police for the whole of the North East,” he said.
However, he questioned whether such an arrangement would create democratic challenges.
“What right have I got to tell the people of Northumberland what fire or police services they have?” he said.
Despite outlining the two possibilities, Mayor Houchen said he had not yet formed a firm view on which option would be best.
“I don’t have strong views at this point,” he said, adding that he had not carried out enough research to reach a definitive position.
The devolution reforms were announced alongside wider plans to give English regional mayors a share of income tax revenues for the first time.
Cleveland Police declined to comment on Mayor Houchen’s remarks regarding the future of the force.
