Following a 10 month independent internal review across Staffordshire, a report titled “Is there a case for full integration?” has been published today.
The report provides a number of recommendations and examples of how fire and police services could integrate within a single organisation whilst retaining the unique and separate services they provide to the public. A copy of the report can be viewed here.
Matthew Ellis, Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire said:
“The recommended changes retain the identities and specialisms of each of the two services. They reduce heavy management structures to allow extra investment in the frontline operations and would provide cost effective, resilient support functions for policing and fire.
It details significant opportunities to make the most of the crossovers between the two services so they work more effectively together to make our communities safer across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
What strikes me with this detailed report is that even if budgets were not tight it would be impossible to justify not doing something to address the duplication in support functions everyone in Staffordshire is paying for. Millions of pounds saved could be reinvested into strengthening frontline operations by increasing significantly frontline policing numbers and maintaining firefighter numbers”.
Stephen Sweeney, Chairman of the Fire and Rescue Authority for Staffordshire said:
“This has been a comprehensive piece of work which highlight the clear opportunities for the fire service and the police service to work for the benefit of communities in a more joined up way.
It maintains their individual service identities and recognises the different roles and specialisms they each provide. This must be done carefully as improved safety outcomes and better value for money must be the priorities.
The report shows how more joined up thinking, action, delivery and shared intelligence between the services will improve early intervention, prevention and operational resilience to the benefit of the public across Staffordshire”.
The forty two page report recognises some progress has been made in meeting future challenges but identifies these key opportunities:
- Sustaining both the fire and the police service in a way that copes with changing challenges and greater complexity in the future.
- Improving public safety and being more financially sustainable by working better together.
- Identifying dozens of opportunities to broaden the capability of both services, reduce duplication and prioritise investment in frontline delivery.
- Integrating some administrative and support functions that provide the same or similar things for each service. For example, there are currently one finance department for the fire service and another finance department for police; two HR functions, two IT departments and two control rooms to handle incoming phone calls.
- A greater emphasis on prevention with more effective joint working day to day, shared strategies and joined up technology that is pivotal for preventing harm before it happens.
