Foreign police officers could soon be recruited to run forces in England and Wales as long as they are from the US, Canada, or another country with a similar criminal justice system to Britain.

The policing minister, Damian Green, has also confirmed radical plans to open up the recruitment of middle-ranking officers to outsiders with business and leadership skills for the first time.

The introduction of a direct-entry annual recruitment scheme for at least 20 police superintendents and 80 fast-track inspectors from next year will end a century's tradition of all police officers starting their career on the beat.

The move is a key part of the government's radical reform of police pay and conditions, which includes a controversial proposal to enable officers to be made compulsorily redundant for the first time.

Green has said that 10 years ago it was regarded as unthinkable that the governor of the Bank of England would have a Canadian accent. He predicted that the day when a British chief constable spoke with an American accent would not be far away.

The home secretary, Theresa May, blocked a move in 2011 by David Cameron to appoint former US police chief Bill Bratton, now 66, to head the Metropolitan police, saying the job should be filled by a British citizen with experience of English law. Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe was appointed instead.

The Home Office response to its consultation on direct entry, which drew more than 900 responses, says police and crime commissioners should be able to choose their chief constable not only from the senior ranks in Britain but also from other countries "with a similar legal framework and policing model to ours". It adds: "This will enable PCCs to choose the very best person for the job."

The requirement for overseas police chiefs to have experience of a similar legal framework and policing model means recruitment will be limited to America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The newly established College of Policing is to design the new direct-entry scheme. It will include a three-year fast track for new inspectors and direct entry at superintendent level to "bring in new skills and ideas from other professions".

Green said outside applicants to the inspectors' fast-track scheme should have a university degree, but the qualification would not be part of the eligibility criteria for existing officers to provide an alternative route on to the scheme.

The official Home Office response to the consultation acknowledges that a significant proportion of the 929 respondents were opposed in principle to direct-entry schemes on the grounds that they valued a background in policing experience for all police leaders.

Chief constable Mike Cunningham, of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said it was right to review how the brightest and best were attracted into the police, including bringing more women and minority ethnic leaders into senior roles. He said forces already had civilian staff in senior roles in human resources, finance and information technology.

"As a profession, policing has nothing to fear from being open to these ideas … There is every reason for confidence that the abundant leadership talent within policing can compete with the very best from outside," said Cunningham.

"The advantages of first-hand day-to-day experience of operational policing to those in command roles is not underestimated. It is also a reality that opportunities for entry to senior roles will be fewer as police forces contract to suit budgets. The work led by the college will examine these challenges and the potential benefits to policing."

Alex Marshall of the College of Policing said it would be working with police forces to ensure that the direct entry schemes were built around their future needs.

The Police Federation is opposed to the moves. Its vice-chairman, Steve White, said: "To command a policing operation effectively, a senior officer needs first-hand experience of responding in an operational capacity to incidents they would not encounter in any other walk of life.

"External candidates should not be able to join the service at any rank above that of constable; the current structure properly equips officers for the next stage in their career."

He said the Federation had no objection to overseas police officers joining the force but insisted they should start at the same rank as everyone else.