On September 20, 2025, the Liberal Democrats kicked off their annual party conference in Bournemouth with a bold new proposal: every police force in England and Wales should open front desks in supermarkets, shopping centres, and libraries. The party argues that this move would not only make it easier for people to report crimes and share information, but also restore public confidence in policing—a confidence they say has been badly shaken over the past decade.
The idea, dubbed the "police desk promise," would guarantee at least one police counter in every local council area across England and Wales. According to the Liberal Democrats, these desks would bridge the gap between the police and the communities they serve, offering a visible, approachable point of contact that many feel has disappeared in recent years. "Too many people feel like they don't see a police officer, far too many people say it's too difficult to report a crime, and far too many police officers say they need more intelligence from the public so that they can solve these crimes," Hazel Grove MP Lisa Smart, the party's home affairs spokesperson, told The Mirror. "What we need to do is take down the barriers that stop people from doing that."
The party’s research paints a stark picture. Over the past decade, the number of police front counters—traditionally located inside police stations—has plummeted. Freedom of Information data cited by the Lib Dems shows a drop from 365 counters in 2015 to just 268 in 2025, a 26% reduction. Some areas have been hit especially hard: Bedfordshire Police saw a 78% reduction, while Surrey Police lost 60% of its front desks. The West Midlands, West Yorkshire, and Metropolitan police forces also reported cuts of 58%, 53%, and 52% respectively. According to the BBC, these closures have left many communities feeling disconnected from their local forces.
Lisa Smart, in her speech at the conference, did not mince words about who she believes is responsible for this decline. She accused the previous Conservative government of "decimating neighbourhood policing" and said that the situation has left people feeling like police are invisible in their own communities. "Police need to be seen, accessible. The best policing is when police are part of the community, people know where they're going to be and can just nip by and share some information," Smart said, as reported by The Mirror.
The Liberal Democrats are also critical of the current Labour government’s approach to policing. While Labour has announced plans to transfer the responsibilities of police and crime commissioners (PCCs) to a new wave of elected mayors, the Lib Dems argue that this is little more than a reshuffling of bureaucracy. Smart accused Labour of offering "little more than pointless soundbites" on community policing during its first year in power. She also claimed that Labour’s focus on town and city centres has left rural areas underserved, and that the government has not provided enough clarity on its pledge to boost neighbourhood policing teams by 13,000 officers and PCSOs. According to the government, 3,000 of these new officers are supposed to be in place by March 2026, with the full quota arriving by the end of the current Parliament in 2029.
So, how do the Lib Dems propose to pay for this new network of police desks? Their plan is to scrap the police and crime commissioners altogether. Introduced by the coalition government in 2012, PCCs are elected officials who oversee police forces, but the Lib Dems argue their role is redundant and costly. According to party research, PCCs cost over £100 million in administrative expenses between 2019 and 2023—a sum that could, the party says, be better spent on frontline policing and community engagement. The West Midlands commissioner alone was paid more than £100,000 a year. The Lib Dems have long called for PCCs to be abolished, and this new policy gives them another reason to push for abolition.
The party’s proposal comes at a time when many police forces are experimenting with new ways to connect with the public. Some have installed touch-screen terminals in supermarkets to boost crime reporting rates, but the Lib Dems say these don’t go far enough. Their vision is for staffed desks that, while not able to perform every function of a full police station, would allow members of the public to share information and report crime face-to-face. These desks would have a more extensive role than the engagement centres or pop-up desks sometimes used by neighbourhood police teams. "Policing needs more resources," Smart emphasized. "It was under-resourced and let down by the last Tory government. Chief constables need to be able to plan for the long term. And we haven't heard that clarity from government."
Meanwhile, in London, the debate over police counters has been particularly heated. The Metropolitan Police began closing front counters in 2013, and almost half of the capital’s remaining counters are now set to close in a new round of cost-cutting. London’s Labour mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, had previously pledged to keep one 24-hour counter in each of the city’s 32 boroughs. But last week, he reversed course, arguing that the counters were only used by "very few people" and that the £7 million in savings generated by the cuts would be better spent on an improved command and control centre. As reported by the BBC, this decision has sparked a fresh round of debate over the balance between cost savings and public accessibility.
The timing of the Lib Dems’ announcement is no accident. With 72 MPs—thanks to a strong showing in last year’s general election, where they took a swathe of Tory-held seats—the party is keen to position itself as the champion of community policing and understated patriotism. Party strategists see an opportunity to win over liberal-minded Conservative voters, especially in regions like Surrey, Hertfordshire, and Devon. But the political landscape is more fragmented than ever, with Reform UK leading in some opinion polls, the Green Party under new leadership, and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reportedly planning to launch a new political party.
The Liberal Democrats’ four-day conference will culminate in a keynote speech by party leader Sir Ed Davey on September 23. As the party seeks to carve out space in a crowded political field, the police desk proposal is likely to be a central plank of its pitch to voters. Whether the plan will resonate with the public—and whether it can survive the inevitable political wrangling over funding and priorities—remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the question of how best to reconnect police with the communities they serve is back at the top of the national agenda.
For many, the sight of a police desk in a local supermarket or library might just be the reassurance—and the opportunity to be heard—they’ve been missing.
