Police workforce and representative institutions National Police Chiefs' Council
There has been a representative body for chief officers of police since 1858. The Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland ("ACPO") was formed in 1948. Its stated role was "to bring together the expertise and experience of chief police officers and senior police staff equivalents from across the United Kingdom, providing a professional forum to share ideas and best practice, develop national professional practice, co-ordinate resources and help deliver effective policing which keeps the public safe". In addition to acting as the professional voice of policing, ACPO co-ordinated national police operations and provided national policing services, such as the National Ballistics Intelligence Service ("NABIS").
	In 2013, PCCs commissioned General Sir Nick Parker to undertake an independent review of ACPO, in the wake of the significant reforms to policing that had taken place since 2010. General Parker’s terms of reference were to "examine the standing structures and functions currently delivered by ACPO in the context of the radically different national environment of PCCs, the College of Policing and the National Crime Agency and make recommendations to PCCs", including about the requirement for a collective national policing function akin to that fulfilled by ACPO. General Parker’s report was published in August 2013 (Independent Review of ACPO). He concluded that there was "a requirement for a Chief Constables’ Council with a full-time chair which should: conduct operational and managerial coordination between independent Chief Constables; act as the focus for command and leadership of the police service; maintain direct links to the National Business Areas to inform policing and implement practice; and speak with a coordinated and independent voice on the delivery of operational policing". In July 2014, chief officers voted in support of the creation of the National Police Chiefs’ Council ("NPCC") and ACPO was formally closed down on 31 March 2015 and replaced by the NPCC on 1 April 2015.
	The NPCC was constituted as a result of a collaboration agreement, made under section 22A of the 1996 Act, between all chief officers of police and local policing bodies (PCCs and the equivalent in London) in England and Wales, the NCA, the College of Policing and other policing bodies; it is hosted by the Metropolitan Police Service. The NPCC’s functions are to:
	Co-ordinate national operations including defining, monitoring and testing force contributions to the Strategic Policing Requirement working with the NCA where appropriate;
	Command counter-terrorism operations and delivery of counter-terrorist policing;
	Co-ordinate the national police response to national emergencies and the mobilisation of resources across force borders and internationally;
	Implement national operational standards and policy as set by the College of Policing and Government;
	Work with the College of Policing to develop joint national approaches on criminal justice, value for money, service transformation, information management, performance management and technology; and
	Work with the College of Policing (where appropriate) to develop joint national approaches to staff and human resources issues (including misconduct and discipline) in line with chief constables’ responsibilities as employers.
	There are a number of statutory references to ACPO which, for example, require the Home Secretary to consult with the association before exercising certain policing-related delegated powers. Section 51 and Schedule 14 amend or repeal these provisions to take account of the replacement of ACPO by the NPCC.