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Police and Justice Bill

As I shall explain in a moment, the provisions for merging force areas set out in the 1996 Act put sufficient protection in place and require deliberation in the House. In our constitution, referendums are typically reserved for issues of significant constitutional development, such as regional government, to which the hon. Gentleman alluded, and our relationship with the European Union. Under the 1996 Act, a merger may take place either if the police authorities concerned have volunteered or if the Home Secretary considers that a merger would be in the interests of the efficiency or effectiveness of policing. Therefore, there are three lines of constitutional defence.