Police mergers are firmly back on the agenda after Labour revealed it was considering “regionalisation” of the nation’s forces.

Chris Leslie, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, highlighted the proposal in a major speech giving the clearest hints yet as to how Labour would set about re-organising public services if it wins the next election.

The theme of his speech to the Social Market Foundation, a centre-left think tank, was that Labour would not be able to reverse Conservative spending cuts, but would instead “get the current budget into surplus and national debt falling as soon as possible”, through what he called “sustainable management of public finances”.

At the same time, Labour would deliver public services successfully, he said.

But it was only possible to do both these things at once “if we rethink and reform public services while delivering standards that people need and expect. “

Options included making police forces more efficient by merging them with neighbouring forces. Mr Leslie talked about “locally-negotiated mergers” as opposed to “voluntary” mergers.

And he also raised the prospect of “regionalisation” – echoing a proposal set out by the Independent Police Commission chaired by Lord Stephens, the former head of London’s Metropolitan Police, which published its findings in November last year.

The Commission, set up by Labour, suggested merging the existing 43 forces across England and Wales into just 10 – one for each English region plus one for Wales.

It would mean that the West Midlands’ four police forces, West Midlands, West Mercia, Warwickshire and Staffordshire, would be replaced by a single West Midlands regional force. The idea isn’t entirely new. Labour planned something similar in 2006, but opposition to the prospect of forced mergers led to the scheme being scrapped – and the Home Secretary at the time, Charles Clarke, losing his job in a cabinet reshuffle.

Mr Leslie confirmed the idea was back on the agendsa, saying: “Administrative structures need to be reviewed. As the widely respected Independent Police Commission chaired by Lord Stevens and commissioned by Yvette Cooper set out, there are options for change in police structures, including locally-negotiated mergers and regionalisation.

“We are consulting on the recommendations that the Commission made.”

And he also suggested a number of other changes – including the possible abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners, and police sharing facilities with other emergency services.

“When we are losing thousands of police officers and police staff, is it right that today we spend more on Police Commissioners than on the old Police Authorities that they replaced?”

He added: “This Government still has not changed the number of departments, agencies, fire services and police forces, all with separate leadership and management structures. The case for collaboration is now surely overwhelming.”

Other public services that can expect changes under a Labour government include the Work Programme, which helps unemployed people find jobs.

Central government currently commissions private firms or organisations to run the service and pays by results, but Labour had hinted in the past that it will give local government a role either commissioning or directly providing services to the unemployed.

And Mr Leslie said: “Labour’s alternative must rationalise the process and streamline administration to ensure we minimise overheads and maximise support for each young person.”

He promised Labour would cut bureaucracy in the health service, arguing that the NHS now spends £2 billion a year just on administration thanks to the existence of a range of boards, trusts and commissioning groups.

It looks like some of these are for the axe, with Mr Leslie saying the shadow cabinet is to “look at how we can create leaner, more efficient commissioning arrangements for health and social care.”

Changes can also be expected in the criminal justice system, with some magistrates courts being relocated into county courts.

Finally, there may be big changes in store for local councils. Mr Leslie suggested that he and Shadow Local Government Secretary Hilary Benn would encourage the creation of unitary authorities where two-tier councils still exist, and said councils would be encouraged to provide services jointly with neighbouring authorities, and even pool budgets.

He said: “Hilary Benn and I will continue to explore the full range of options to support councils as they share services, pool budgets, and choose to collaborate and integrate further.”

So public services can look forward to yet more reforms under a Labour government.

But it does seem that Labour would focus streamlining the way public services are managed, and look for ways they can share resources.

Whether this will save enough money to let them survive yet more cuts without damaging the quality of services to the public remains to be seen.