Amanda Milling, Member of Parliament for Cannock Chase, has welcomed a government announcement that Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) are being given the opportunity to make the case for taking responsibility for fire and rescue services.
Following a public consultation, the Government has announced that it will now take forward legislation to enable PCCs to hold their local fire and rescue services to account. This is part of a raft of changes to bring about closer working between the blue light services and improve the way they serve communities, protect the public and provide value for money for taxpayers. The Cannock Chase MP has welcomed this news saying this is something she has been campaigning for since being elected in May last year. Amanda has asked several questions in Parliament, held a Westminster Hall debate and written an article on the subject over the last few months.
Amanda Milling said: “The merging of the back office of fire & rescue services with the police is something I have been calling for. I believe that fire authorities are not accountable to the public and there is too much duplication between the back office functions of the police and fire & rescue authorities. I believe that this new legislation will be a 'win win' situation for the taxpayer by allowing both services to share back office costs and to divert valuable funding to frontline services, which is where it should be.”
The MP added: “Every penny spent on duplicate payroll departments, procurement teams and PR departments is a penny wasted. Funding needs to be focused on frontline policing and firefighting, which is needed to keep us safe.
On announcing the plans, Minister for Policing, Fire, Criminal Justice and Victims, Mike Penning, said:
“As a former firefighter and now Minister for Policing and Fire, I know from first-hand experience how well the police and fire and rescue service can work together. We believe that better joint working can strengthen the emergency services, deliver significant savings and produce benefits for the public.”
The public consultation, jointly produced by the Home Office, Department for Communities and Local Government and the Department of Health in September 2015, sought views on a range of proposals to enable greater collaboration between the emergency services. The Government’s response to the consultation was published yesterday.
Over 300 responses were received and following careful consideration of all the consultation responses, the Government will legislate to:
· Introduce a statutory duty to collaborate on all three emergency services, to improve their efficiency or effectiveness;
· Enable PCCs to take on the functions and duties of fire and rescue authorities, where a local case is made;
· Further enable PCCs to create a single employer for police and fire personnel where they take on the responsibilities of their local fire and rescue service, and where a local case is made;
· In areas where a PCC has not become responsible for fire and rescue, enabling them to have representation on their local fire and rescue authority with voting rights, where the fire and rescue authority agrees;
The Cannock Chase MP will be speaking to other Staffordshire MPs and the Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Matthew Ellis, in order for proposals for Staffordshire to come forward. An announcement has already been made by Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Authority that they are to move forward looking at collaboration and integration between emergency services in Staffordshire.
Amanda Milling has previously secured a Westminster Hall debate on the subject in November 2015 and even had an article published on the issue in December: http://www.conservativehome.com/localgovernment/2015/12/amanda-milling-time-for-accountability-in-the-fire-brigade.html.