DYFED-Powys’ police and crime commissioner said he backed some of the wide-scale policing reforms proposed by the UK Government which seek to slash the number of forces in England and Wales.

Dafydd Llywelyn said he welcomed the white paper’s focus on policing rooted in local communities supported by a new National Police Service, and crime prevention.

Mr Llywelyn said: “I think it would be very difficult to to find people involved in policing who would not agree with those sentiments.”

But he wondered how local policing areas would be defined if the current 43 police forces in England and Wales were cut to “maybe 10 or 12”, and how large these forces would be.

Mr Llywelyn, who has been elected Dyfed-Powys’ police and crime commissioner three times, was speaking at a meeting of the region’s police and crime panel. The UK Labour Government plans to scrap commissioners after 2028 and the panels which scrutinise their work.

Plaid Cymru commissioner Mr Llywelyn said there were many variables surrounding the Government’s white paper, entitled From Local to National: A New Model for Policing, and its context in Wales.

He wondered how funding for the proposed National Police Service – designed to fight the most serious and complex crimes – would affect the precept that taxpayers paid directly to fund their local force. Just over half the funding for Dyfed-Powys Police is via the precept, which is shown on people’s council tax bills.

Mr Llywelyn also said he felt there was “so much turmoil” politically in Westminster and questioned how many of the proposed reforms could be brought in during the next Parliament let alone the current one.

He said he would be setting out his views in writing to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, and told the panel he would do everything he could to ensure Dyfed Powys residents were well represented in discussions.