Essex-wide survey finds overwhelming opposition to the proposed Government policing reforms
A large majority of people who live and work in the county have rejected the Government’s plan to scrap Essex Police.
Earlier this year, the Home Office published a White Paper, From Local to National: A New Model for Policing, which sets out proposals to move towards fewer and much larger regional police constabularies.
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, invited residents of all ages to take part in a public survey to ensure the views of communities across the county were represented as the Government considers how to implement its major package of reforms.
The survey was hosted online and ran between Wednesday the 10th of June and Wednesday the 22nd of July 2026. More than 1,700 people from across Essex responded.
All the responses have now been collated by an independent analyst and show that nearly 70% of participants oppose the proposal to merge police forces into larger regional constabularies.
As a result of the clear verdict from the survey, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner will be joining a public meeting in Southend to discuss the Government’s reforms. Residents are welcome to join him at Leigh Community Centre at 6pm, tonight, Monday the 3rd of August where he will say more about opposing the dismantling of the existing local model of policing that already works in Essex.
Responding to the survey findings, Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: "My survey found that the majority of Essex residents who completed it do not back the Government’s reforms to policing. The findings are a warning that scrapping Essex Police in favour of a regional force would be a step too far.
“I am calling on Lord Hogan-Howe, the lead of an independent policing review linked to the Government’s agenda, to seriously consider the level of opposition to the merger plan.
“It is time to abandon the current set of proposed reforms. There is no public appetite for change – most survey participants agreed with the statement that policing should remain locally led in Essex.
“The Government would be better served if it focused instead on further enhancing the link between local communities and the police, backed by a fairer funding formula to fight crime in the county. I will continue to make the case for retaining Essex Police in its current form.”
Survey responses show:
- 69% of respondents oppose the proposal to merge police forces into larger regional organisations (50% strongly oppose and 19% oppose).
- 86% agree that "it is important for Essex to maintain a strong local police presence that is responsive to our community" (74% strongly agree and 12% agree), while only 11% disagree.
- 85% agree that "local policing should remain locally led to ensure police officers understand and focus on community needs" (67% strongly agree and 18% agree). Only 9% of respondents disagreed with this statement.
Every district in Essex participated in the survey. The highest proportion of respondents lived in Chelmsford district (14.7%), followed by Braintree district (12.4%), Colchester district (12.2%) and Southend (11.9%).