West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin today supported local police plans to share services with Warwickshire’s force. The MP quizzed Home Secretary Theresa May over plans to share the human resources departments between West Mercia and Warwickshire police. Harriett highlighted work carried out between the two police forces and said that that it was ‘exactly the kind of savings that can be made without resorting to the compulsory mergers advocated by the previous Government’. Theresa May told the House of Commons: “I welcome the increasing level of collaboration between police forces and expect all forces to consider how to work together to bring improvements and save money. “What we are able to do to ensure we is get the benefits of collaboration without forcing mergers on police forces.” Speaking later, Harriett added: “My constituents tell me that they want to see visible, local policing. “At a time when police budgets need to be tightly controlled, I think West Mercia Chief Constable David Shaw and his team are thinking very creatively about how to get the most value for money out of the budget and ensure that the front line is put first.” FULL TEXT: Harriett Baldwin (West Worcestershire) (Con): What progress she has made in increasing the level of collaboration between police forces. [78440] ... The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May): I welcome the increasing levels of collaboration between police forces and expect more forces to consider how to work together to bring improvements and save money. The Government provide funding to support regional collaborations to tackle organised crime and have strengthened the duty to collaborate through the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011. Harriett Baldwin: I thank the Home Secretary for that reply. Does she agree that the collaboration between West Mercia police and Warwickshire police, through their human resources department, produces exactly the kind of saving that can be made without resorting to the compulsory mergers advocated by the previous Government? Mrs May: Indeed, and I commend my hon. Friend’s police force for the work it is doing in collaboration. Many forces across the country are collaborating in a number of areas. We are able to ensure that we can get the benefits of collaboration without forcing mergers on police forces, which the Labour party tried to do when it was in government. | Hansard