Since the enactment of the Police Act of 1964, the balance of control over the police has shifted steadily away from local police authorities towards the Home Office, accelerated by the amalgamation of forces which has seen their number in England and Wales reduced from 117 to 43. By 1975, some police authorities were beginning to feel irrelevant and powerless to effect any meaningful control over their chief constables; however, among the recommendations of Lord Scarman in his report on the disturbances in Brixton in April 1981 were some which will, if implemented, affect the relationship between policing and politics. He recommended that a statutory obligation be placed upon police authorities and chief officers of police to cooperate in the establishment of local liaison committees and that lay visitors should be appointed to make random inspections of the method in which prisoners are detained and interrogated in police stations. He also recommended that police authorities and local liaison committess might play a more active role in the complaints investigation procedure. The Home Office has issued guidelines to police authorities and chief police officers regarding the setting up of local consultative committees. The opportunity now exists for local machinery to be set up to form a new level of accountability within the pattern of checks and balances established in 1964. Twenty references are listed.