Police Station Closures 2014 Onwards

5 February 2025

Request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Ref No:FOI2025/00306  

I write in connection with your request for information received on 13 January.  I note you seek access to the following information:

Data is requested from 2014 to the present if available.
If data is not available from 2014, please provide information from the earliest year for which data is available, and state that year.

1. Between 2014 (or the earliest year from which data is held) and 2024, how many police stations have closed in your force?

2. Of the police stations that were closed, how many had front counters open to the public?

3. Between 2014 (or the earliest year from which data is held) and 2024, how many police stations have opened in your force area?

4. Of those police stations that were opened, how many had front counters that still remain open to the public?

Based on the personal knowledge of relevant parties now e.g. individual(s) responsible for the force’s estate and/or front counter services:

5. Where stations with front counters closed and were either closed completely or not replaced by a new station with a front counter, what was mainly the rationale for this?
a. to reduce costs/save money
a. lack of use by the public
a. the availability of alternative services e.g. online

6. Does your force have any plans to close front counters in the future? YES/NO.  If yes, why (please select from options above).

7. Does your force have any plans to open front counters in the future?  YES/NO.  If yes, why (please provide a short description).

A police station is defined as any building where officers and staff are permanently based.

I am required by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (The Act) to handle all requests in a manner that is blind to the identity of the requestor. Any information released in response to a request is regarded as being published and therefore, in the public domain without caveat.

Following enquiries within Bedfordshire Police Force please see our response below.

1. 5
2. 1
3. 4
4. None
5. 5a. Lack of use by the public very low footfall.
6. No
7. No

The numerical data presented in this response is an un-audited snapshot of un-published data sourced from "live" systems and is subject to the interpretation of the original request by the individual extracting the data.