Business as usual? The new police authorities and the police and magistrates’ courts act

In 1993, the Home Secretary, Kenneth Clarke was to publish a White Paper on Police Reform designed to radically alter the structure of police authorities and the government of the police service in England and Wales. This was based on an official perception that contemporary demands placed on the police required more powerful and businesslike police authorities, to give leadership to the police and ensure that money was spent more effectively. In his statement on the police to the House of Commons the Home Secretary outlined a set of proposals, which had they been implemented, would have dramatically changed the central local relationship of the government of the police.