From local to national: a new model for policing · first published 26 January 2026
This January 2026 White Paper is the government's plan to overhaul policing in England and Wales — described as the most significant reform in nearly 200 years. It will reduce the number of police forces (currently 43), abolish Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and replace them with mayors and Policing and Crime Boards from 2028, and create a new National Police Service (NPS) by merging the National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing, the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs' Council. It also commits £115 million over three years to a new National Centre for AI in Policing ("Police.AI"), buys 40 new Live Facial Recognition vans, and funds a £200 million neighbourhood policing boost in 2025–26. This is a buyer-structure and policing-strategy document, not a procurement policy note — it sets no new award criteria, weightings or supplier thresholds. However, it signals very large upcoming procurement needs in AI, forensic technology, digital evidence management, training and neighbourhood policing equipment, which SMEs in those markets should monitor closely.
WHO THIS APPLIES TO
THE ENKII VIEW
The White Paper creates a significant pipeline opportunity for SMEs in technology (AI, facial recognition, digital forensics), training, and community-policing services — the £115m Police.AI fund and 40 LFR vans alone represent concrete near-term contracts. Centralised national procurement through the NPS could cut SMEs out of force-by-force deals they currently win locally, so firms should engage early with the new national buying structures. The retail-crime funding (£5m for Opal, £2m for the National Business Crime Centre) is relatively modest but targeted — SMEs with crime-analytics or business-crime-prevention products have a clear named buyer to approach.
1. Register your interest with Police.AI (the new National Centre for AI in Policing) as soon as it is established, and respond to any market-engagement exercises it runs — £115m over three years will flow through this new central body for identifying and scaling AI tools.
SMEs supplying AI, data analytics, or digital tools to police forces — The White Paper commits £115m over three years to Police.AI to identify, test and scale AI technology across all forces, making it the primary gateway for AI procurement in policing.
2. Position your firm to bid for forensic analysis capacity contracts — approach the NPS procurement pipeline and watch for prior-information notices, as the stated backlog of ~20,000 unanalysed devices signals urgent, large-scale demand.
SMEs in digital forensics, device analysis, or cybercrime investigation services — The White Paper explicitly identifies a backlog of approximately 20,000 devices awaiting forensic analysis and commits to a new national forensics service under the NPS.
3. Prepare for procurement to shift from 43 separate force buyers to a single national buyer (the NPS). Start building relationships with national-level procurement leads now, before force consolidation reduces the number of contracting authorities you can approach.
SMEs selling technology, equipment or services currently to individual police forces — The White Paper states the NPS will buy technology and equipment nationally, which will centralise decisions that are currently made force-by-force.
4. Monitor College of Policing and NPS tender pipelines for the Neighbourhood Policing Pathway, Licence to Practise rollout, and the national workforce strategy — all are explicitly committed to in this White Paper and will require supplier support.
SMEs in training, learning technology, or workforce development for policing — The White Paper commits to a specialist Neighbourhood Policing Pathway, a new Licence to Practise for constables, and a national workforce strategy, all of which will require training design, content, and delivery partners.
5. Approach the National Business Crime Centre (£2m, 3 years) and Opal (£5m, 3 years) directly as named, funded buyers — prepare a concise capability statement tailored to organised retail crime and acquisitive crime intelligence.
SMEs with retail crime analytics, business crime prevention, or intelligence products — The White Paper names and funds both bodies explicitly, making them identifiable contracting authorities for SMEs with relevant products or services.
6. Align your product positioning to the six Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee pillars (especially Pillars 1, 2 and 5) and the 72-hour response commitment — forces will need digital tools to deliver standardised public contact and performance dashboards.
SMEs in community engagement technology, digital contact platforms, or neighbourhood policing tools — The Guarantee requires forces to standardise public contact using digital messaging tools and publish performance dashboards, creating a clear technology need backed by £200m in 2025–26 personnel and infrastructure funding.
7. Map your current PCC-level relationships and identify the incoming Strategic Authority Mayor or Policing and Crime Board for your area — begin engagement with those new governance structures before the 2028 transition date.
SMEs seeking to understand who their new procurement contact will be from 2028 — PCCs will be abolished and governance transferred to mayors and Policing and Crime Boards in 2028; suppliers who engage early with successor bodies will be better placed when new procurement decisions are made.
This briefing is enkii's interpretation of the official document — the official text always governs.
Source document © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0 via the GOV.UK Content API. enkii tracks every Procurement Policy Note and briefs changes the day they land — see all briefings.