Published by the Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner

Bluelights Police Fire Integration in Northamptonshire

Police Fire Integration in Northamptonshire A report by Northamptonshire Police & Crime Commissioner

Northamptonshire’s Emergency Services have a long and rich history of working together in response to incidents and planning for major events in our County. Since the advent of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in 2012 and the County Council’s commitment to innovative partnerships to drive service improvement and efficiencies, Northamptonshire Police and the Fire and Rescue Service have been formalising their working arrangements with the ambition to become a single organisation.

1

1

Foreword The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of our journey to date in Northamptonshire, detailing some of the challenges, the opposition we faced and the barriers that we have overcome. Whilst a great deal has been achieved, the journey is far from over. We are proud of the successes that we have been able to deliver. For example, we have protected frontline resources, reduced duplication across the two organisations, rationalised our estates, and improved our response to incidents by pursuing innovative crewing arrangements. We have even created shared teams that are now managed by senior Fire and Rescue Managers. Our approach has been to take the best from both organisations, with a view to achieving the overall outcome of making Northamptonshire a safer and better protected county. We want to be more visible to our communities, encourage the public to help themselves by solving their own problems, where sensible to do so, and keep them safe from harm by focusing on preventing incidents from occurring in the first place. We have demonstrated to the Government the positive benefits that can be delivered through integrating the work of our Police and Fire and Rescue Services. This document outlines the benefits that we think the proposed changes in legislation will provide, such as improving public accountability, giving PCCs the ability to pool budgets between the two organisations, create a shared precept and to merge management structures. We believe that this will enable us to retain specialisms across policing and fire and rescue, whilst enhancing the basic skills that the next generation of emergency services officers gain, as they will receive training across all three emergency services. We have demonstrated that there are many opportunities to improve and enhance our emergency services and we have set out some suggestions on what the future of our emergency services may look like.

2

Police Fire Integration in Northamptonshire A report by Northamptonshire Police & Crime Commissioner

Adam Simmonds, Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner

Cllr Andre Gonzalez De Savage, Cabinet Member for Strategic Infrastructure, Public Protection and Economic Growth, Northamptonshire County Council

Dr. Paul Blantern, Chief Executive Northamptonshire County Council

Simon Edens, Chief Constable Northamptonshire Police

Adrian Davis, Head of Service and Co-Chair of the Interoperability Board, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue

Andy Frost, Deputy Chief Constable and Co-Chair of the Interoperability Board, Northamptonshire Police

3

3

Our vision Our aim is to make Northamptonshire a safer and better protected county. We want to be more visible to our communities, encourage the public to help themselves by solving their own problems and keep them safe from harm by focusing on preventing incidents from occurring in the first place.

By creating one organisation, we will:

Northamptonshire became the first area in the country to announce plans to bring the police and fire services together with agreement between Northamptonshire Police, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue and their respective authorities, the PCC and NCC.

• Better support the public in enabling them to manage their own issues.

Achieving this vision would mean taking the best from both organisations and building upon their proud traditions and deep professional identities to take them forward into a new and effective single organisation which is fit for the twentyfirst century. In February 2013, the first public announcement that the two services would be working more closely together was made to the local media.

• Reduce duplication across the emergency services. • Engage with communities on crime prevention, fire prevention and public health advice can be delivered once and not by three different organisations.

• Encourage more people to become involved in the Emergency Services either professionally or on a voluntary basis by providing them with a broader set of skills and opportunities. • Offer greater strength and resilience across the emergency services to respond to emerging threats such as terrorism, cyber-crime and child sexual exploitation. • Take what is great about the three emergency services and integrate that across the entirety of the emergency services. • Offer a better deal to victims of crime and casualties. • Make the emergency services more visible and accountable to the public that they serve. • Protect the specialist functions offered by the fire and rescue service from further cuts in public spending. Invest any savings that we make as a result of bringing the organisations together into frontline resources.

4

Police Fire Integration in Northamptonshire A report by Northamptonshire Police & Crime Commissioner

How we have achieved integration so far We believe that enabling PCCs to become the appropriate authority for Fire and Rescue Services will not only bring greater public accountability to the emergency services, but also give them the ability to pool budgets between the two organisations, create a shared precept and merge management structures. However, in order to achieve this we would need to make the case to a number of stakeholders in order to encourage their support and explain to them the benefits that this change in primary legislation would bring.

Local Engagement Staff engagementSenior Management across Northamptonshire Police and the Fire and Rescue Service recognised the importance of their staff when taking forward such a transformational approach to the way the two organisations operate. People across both organisations were encouraged to become involved in shaping the future, whilst concerns to the potential changes were acknowledged. Regular engagement was also undertaken through a joint forum across relevant trade unions shortly after the commencement of the integration project. Police and Crime Panel In March 2013, the PCC set out strategic benefits of the collaboration to the Northamptonshire Police and Crime Panel. Not only did he set out greater and more effective emergency and community services could be delivered, but how it would also ensure better value for money for the residents of Northamptonshire. The Panel was supportive of these principals and suggested that the East Midlands Ambulance Service could be included in the future. The PCC has regularly kept the Panel up to date with developments.

National engagement Northamptonshire‘s success in working towards integration has required continuous engagement with a range of organisations, including the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA), National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) and others to gain their support for closer collaboration amongst the emergency services. Both the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Cabinet Member for Strategic Infrastructure, Economic Growth and Public Protection have regularly attended events to set out the future direction of public services and the emergency services in particular.

In September 2013, the PCC gave his first major speech, “Pioneering a new frontier”, on the vision that he had for the future of the emergency services in Northamptonshire. The speech delivered to CFOA at their Annual General Meeting highlighted the once in a generation opportunity afforded by the advent of PCCs to challenge the status quo.

Engagement with central government The PCC for Northamptonshire, Chief Executive of NCC, Chief Fire Officer and Chief Constable have continually engaged with the Home Office, Cabinet Office and Department for Communities and Local Government on their plans for operational integration of policing and fire services in Northamptonshire. The Government have continually highlighted Northamptonshire as a beacon of best practice in driving integration between the emergency services. In Northamptonshire, Adam Simmonds has been bold enough to question why we have three separate emergency services. He is considering ways of integrating the police and fire service, and I know – with the support of his local county council – he’s looking at setting up a combined headquarters, possibly inside a new county council center. This is exactly the sort of innovation I want the Government not just to applaud – but take firm action across the whole country to help deliver.” The then Fire Minister, Brandon Lewis visited Northamptonshire in August 2013 at the beginning of the journey shortly after the Chief Fire Officer and his team 5 relocated to Wootton Hall Park. The then Minister of State for Policing and Victims, Damian Green, praised plans to integrate the Police and Fire and Rescue Estates in the House of Commons on 12th February 2014 stating:

5

How we have achieved integration so far Funding I recently went to Thrapston in Northamptonshire to visit a joint police and fire station. One building provides two emergency blue light services, which means not only that a better service is provided to the people in and around Thrapston, but that the two emergency services, as they have told me, work better together than they did before.

Following a series of successful meetings with central government departments, the PCC, Police Force and Fire and Rescue Service were encouraged to bring forward funding proposals through two funds the Government had set-up to drive further efficiencies across the emergency services; namely the Police Innovation Fund and Transformational Challenge Award. Through these funds a total of £8.5 million has been granted to Northamptonshire. 2014/15 funding

2013/14 funding

An initial £620,000 was made available in year one (2013/14) followed by £900,000 (2014/15) to establish a shared estates programme including community hubs and co-location where possible, this was in addition to supporting research towards a new target operating model. Further bids ensured funding for projects such as more agile working across the two organisations, for the establishment of a Joint Incident Command Unit (JCU) and to fund pilots to look at how we improve both preventative and response activities to rural communities through the Rural Intervention Vehicle (RIV).

In May 2015, the Deputy Mayor of London, Stephen Greenhalgh, also visited Northamptonshire, which gave our emergency services the opportunity to showcase their innovative interoperability work to a larger metropolitan authority as part of the campaign to further the national interest in this issue.

6

Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Rescue Service and PCC have facilitated a number of visits from other Force areas and Fire and Rescue Services who interested in understanding more about how work and how they can develop similar programmes of work in their areas to share best practice.

Police Fire Integration in Northamptonshire A report by Northamptonshire Police & Crime Commissioner

Achievements so far Collaboration arrangements pre-PCC Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service have historically worked in partnership in an operational capacity through the local resilience forum, emergency planning requirements and through their response to major incidents.

Shared headquarters The Fire and Rescue chief officer team relocated to Northamptonshire Police’s Headquarters at Wotton Hall, Northampton, to establish a shared base for all senior officers from both organisations and enable closer working at a senior level.

Although the full Interoperability Programme has been underway since 2013, the two organisations set out to assess the benefits and feasibility of working together more closely in 2011, which helped to identify early opportunities to share assets and resources. Both organisations have also sought to develop other strategic partnerships to improve efficiency and deliver savings. For example, Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service considered a shared control room with other fire services, while Northamptonshire Police has established a multi-force shared service for a number of transactional back-office functions, such as procurement and HR support services. Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service is now part of the local government shared service (LGSS) which is one of the largest public sector shared service ventures in the UK. Northamptonshire Police has also joined other East Midlands forces to set up regional collaboration teams for some operational policing services, including major crime investigation, forensic investigation, roads policing and specialist operations. Achieving Interoperability A joint Interoperability Programme Board, co-chaired by the Deputy Chief Constable and the Brigade Manager, seeks to identify and deliver further integration between the two organisations. The Board meets monthly to review progress and provide direction for the various work streams. The formalisation of the Interoperability Programme has also provided a structured and coordinated approach to integration and is also looking towards the longer-term vision, whilst overseeing short and medium term projects.

Shared fuel supply A shared fuel bunker for use by both police and fire crews is now in place at Corby fire station, providing greater efficiency through shared procurement and ease of access by police officers. One of the main challenges in developing a shared fuel supply between the two organisations has been achieving sign off from the respective services legal departments for a Service Level Agreement (SLA). This has been particularly challenging due to the involvement of a third party and some complications remain. For example, whilst the Fire and Rescue Service procures the fuel, Northamptonshire Police are currently classed as an additional customer. This means the Force are charges VAT for the fuel they use. Clearly in a single organisation this cost would simply not occur. However one of the major benefits of sharing fuel supplies has been the increased resilience afforded to the emergency services in the north of the county. Fuel tanks have also been prepared in the south of the county, which again will deliver great benefits to our emergency services.

7

7

Achievements so far Shared vehicle maintenance Both services now share the expertise of specialist Blue Light Vehicle Technicians (BLVTs), which involves cross training and use of existing police and fire workshops. Police technicians are completing higher volumes of light-vehicle servicing from both police and fire fleets, while the larger and more technical vehicle servicing is being completed by fire BLVTs.

Shared training facilities and resources Joint training and development has been established in a number of areas, including leadership, driver training, safeguarding, coaching and immediate emergency care. There is also shared use of facilities, such as the use of the Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Command Development Centre in Daventry for critical incident training. Combined leadership training has also been a key area for development and a number of officers and staff from both police and fire have now completed the joint initial leadership programme. The five-day programme covers the key areas of leadership and management required by police and fire staff and has been accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), leading to a nationally recognised Level 3 Certificate and Diploma in Leadership and Management on successful completion.

8

Shared bases for operational staff In August 2013, The County’s first combined police and fire station was formally opened in Thrapston, East Northamptonshire. This development relocated local community police officers to the town’s fire station alongside the team of retained firefighters. Only a small amount of refurbishment of the office space was needed to accommodate the extra personnel and install secure IT access to police systems. Previously there had been no public enquiry desk at either the former police station or at the fire station. However, as the fire station is in a more central location, it provides good access and visibility for local community.

Police Fire Integration in Northamptonshire A report by Northamptonshire Police & Crime Commissioner

In a speech to Policy Exchange, one year after the creation of PCCs, Theresa May, Home Secretary said:

Police and crime commissioners are looking not just to reform and make savings by collaborating with other forces but with other emergency services. Adam Simmonds has been bold enough to question why we have three separate emergency services. He is considering ways of integrating the police and fire service, and I know – with the support of his local county council – he’s looking at setting up a combined headquarters. This is exactly the sort of innovation I want the Government not just to applaud – but take firm action across the whole 9 country to help deliver. 9

Achievements so far

Work is now ongoing to identify other locations suitable as a combined police and fire base and building work is due to begin in summer 2015 at two further fire stations (Rushden and Northampton Mereway). Local response and community police officers are expected to be able to relocate to the fire stations by April 2016. Combined Emergency Services Cadets Scheme Cadet and youth engagement schemes were already in place in both organisations, and the decision was taken to introduce a combined scheme which was set up as an independent body and has now gained independent charitable status. Officers and staff from both police and fire are encouraged to get involved and provide input at a cadet session or undertake wider cadet leadership activities. As an incentive, they can do this work as a duty commitment (operational commitments permitting) for up to eight hours per month. Shared access at fire stations From August 2015, 295 police officers and PCSOs will be given access to their local fire stations. Initially, this will provide access to essential facilities, and provide somewhere for refreshment breaks. This will mean officers will be able to stay within their beat area for longer with having to return to their main base. The aim is to ultimately provide hot-desking facilities and IT access for police officers at all fire stations.

10

Bringing teams together As well as seeking opportunities to share buildings, facilities and resources, the Interoperability Board have considered the areas of business with the greatest cross-over of responsibilities and have brought them together into single, integrated teams. These include:

Two new joint teams (prevention and community protection department and the joint operations team) have been established and a further team is currently being developed. Two ‘rural intervention vehicle’, staffed by a dedicated police officer and fire officer, are also undergoing a 12-month trial. Joint Prevention and Community Protection Department The police community safety department and fire service community services and protection team were the first to come together under a single management team. Headed by a senior fire officer, both services play a key role in community safety and preventative activities and represented a logical first step on the journey. The department structure has been fully integrated, and has a management team that is made up of and supervises staff from both organisations. The combined team has brought together specialist knowledge from both organisations and focuses on delivering preventative services that have successfully reduced overall demand. As well as bringing together the crime and fire prevention functions and the already established Arson Task Force, it has also integrated the road safety function and oversees the management of the integrated offender management function, the licencing team and the rural crime team. The department is co-located at fire service premises, which has encouraged greater and immediate sharing of knowledge across the original police and fire teams.

Police Fire Integration in Northamptonshire A report by Northamptonshire Police & Crime Commissioner

Joint Operations Team The Joint Operations Team (JOT) was the second integrated team to be set up, and brought together the fire operations department and the police emergency preparedness team. The department is fully co-located, and operates under a single combined management structure, headed by a fire officer, and has been fully operational since the 1st April 2015. In addition, there are hot-desk facilities within the JOT that can be used by East Midlands Ambulance Service, and a situation cell for multi-agency use during a major incident has been set within the JOT office. The JOT is responsible for the Multi-Agency Incident Assessment Team (MIAT), which brings together three experienced members of staff and their own specific operational knowledge from the relevant emergency service i.e. police, fire and ambulance.

The vehicle is staffed by a police officer and a fire fighter who work alongside local colleagues to promote community safety, increase visibility in rural areas, develop even closer links with the community and identify and resolve local issues.

The MIAT provides the opportunity to gain an early l shared awareness of a major incident scene or event, and can be utilised in pre-planned events such as the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. .The Team’s vehicle has Police, Fire and Ambulance livery and carries kit including thermal imaging cameras, hazmat detectors, communications and IT equipment. Joint Rural Intervention Vehicle The Rural Intervention Vehicle (RIV) was introduced in October 2014 as a 12-month trial. The town of Oundle and its surrounding villages in East Northamptonshire were chosen for the first phase of the trial, and formed part of the Futures project. This is a detailed study to find out how policing and community safety should work in the future; this study is being undertaken in conjunction with intensive work to tackle crime, improve community safety and the quality of life for residents.

As part of their role, the RIV officers carry out a number of tasks in support of day-to-day policing and fire prevention in the area. These include dealing with ongoing local issues, gathering intelligence and identifying potential crime and fire risks. They also assess and support incidents such as minor fires and road traffic collisions, and carry out high-visibility patrols in crime hotspot areas. In addition to this, they give fire and personal safety talks to schools and community groups and visit farms and local businesses to discuss concerns and offer crime and fire prevention advice. Analysis to date has identified many areas where the vehicle is providing a number of benefits. It has become a wellused and valuable resource for policing and fire safety in the community, as well as being well-received by the public. Phase two of the trial is now underway, with a second RIV now operating in the south of the county.

11

11

Key successes to date

Phase One Successes (Interoperability) • Co-location of the Senior Management Teams of Police Force and Fire and Rescue Service at Wootton Hall Park. • Shared fuel supply between the two organisations, offering greater resilience to the two services. • Shared vehicle servicing between the two organisations Phase Two Successes (Integration) • The establishment of a shared Prevention and Community Protection Department

• The establishment of the Joint Operations Team, which has the capacity to include the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS). • The establishment of two fully operational Rural Intervention Vehicles (RIVs) and a Multi-Agency Incident Assessment Team vehicle (MIAT). Phase Three Plans (Single Organisation) • Continuing to integrate estates across the Emergency Services, two more co-located Police/Fire stations planned at Mereway in Northampton and Rushden. • A fully integrated and co-located fleet and stores team • Exploring the possibility of sharing control rooms

12

INTEROPERABILITY

INTEGRATION

SINGLE ORGANISATION

TOP DOWN DELIVERY

COMMUNITY COMMISSIONING

HARMONISED DELIVERY

Collaborative programmes/efficiencies Development of case studies Organisational learning Understanding communities/cultures Quick wins

Building capacity Aligned strategies Shared resources Broad skills

Released capacity Skill based culture Community driven demand

Adding value

Looks and feels different Developing community ownership

Building capacity Local targeting Community commissioning Community ownership

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

COMMUNITY DRIVEN

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

COMMUNITY ADVOCACY

COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP

Help you to help yourself

CASHABLE SAVINGS

Help when you can’t help yourself

Joint Fleet and Stores Team A joint fleet and stores service for both police and fire has also been established and is known as the Blue Light Fleet and Supplies Team (FaST). The two organisations have been sharing maintenance services for some time and the new team brings together the full fleet and transport function, along with the stores function, into a single, combined department. The team will operate under a single management structure, with aligned systems, processes and policies, an integrated business plan and co-location where practical, and work is currently underway to progress these areas of work. As part of the longer term plans, a feasibility study and business case has been commissioned to assess the options for a fully integrated fleet and stores service operating under the terms and conditions of a single organisation, either as part of police or fire or as a stand-alone provider.

13

13

The future for integration Commitment from GovernmentFollowing the election of a new Conservative Government in the 2015 General Election, their legislative programme included plans “to enable Police Forces and Fire and Rescue Services to work much more closely together in the future and to develop the role of Police and Crime Commissioners.” Fire and Rescue Services to be accountable to PCCs The Government will shortly be consulting on plans to enable PCCs to become the appropriate authority for Fire and Rescue Services locally should they wish to do so. This would make Fire and Rescue Services more directly accountable to the public as a result of a single elected official being the figure head in their local communities, mirroring the way that policing is now democratically and directly accountable to the PCC. The PCC could be held accountable to a new Fire and Rescue Scrutiny Committee, hosted by a local authority. This would be made up of local councillors from the local authority areas which make up the Fire and Rescue area in a similar way to the current arrangements work for Police and Crime Panels. Another potential model could see Police and Crime Panels powers increased to also hold PCCs accountable for Fire and Rescue Services and in the future, if the ambulance service is included, an emergency services scrutiny panel could also be established. These changes will allow for a swifter more streamlined decision making process through a single executive, and provide for greater democratic oversight and public scrutiny for the emergency services by exploring different scrutiny arrangements. Shared precept By making the Fire and Rescue Services accountable to PCCs, a new Police/Fire precept can be created through the Council Tax. This will enable the public to clearly see how much they are paying for the emergency services in the local area and begin to remove some of the arguments that have existed regarding how many local police officers serve a particular area and begin to shift the debate into how many people are responsible for keeping their local area, safe and well protected from harm.

14

Pooled budgets Allowing the PCC to be the appropriate fire authority, it will enable them to pool budgets between the two organisations, making it much easier to bring the two organisations together in the end. This essentially means that where teams are shared across the two services, as they are in Northamptonshire, a single decision can be taken on where to invest or make savings across the two services, this will help to ensure that any efficiencies can be reinvested back into frontline services. Continuing to share estates across blue light organisations In Northamptonshire, we have already begun our journey to rationalising our estates across the blue light services and improving access to the general public as a result of the funding we have received from the Police Innovation Fund and Transformational Challenge Award. Our vision is for co-location to become the norm wherever possible, and for public desks to be co-located with other local amenities such as GP surgeries, pharmacies and local authorities. This will help to ensure that the community become more involved and engaged with their emergency services. By the end of March 2016, there will be three co-located stations across the County at Mereway, Rushden and Thrapston along with a shared headquarters; this is in addition to existing plans for co-location of the Force stores and fleet services with the Fire and Rescue Service. When the Government makes the decision for PCCs to become the appropriate authority, however, they will need to pay careful attention to how estates would work across the blue light services. In Northamptonshire’s case, the Fire and Rescue Service buildings are owned by the County Council. This means a clear decision has to be made, that where Fire and Rescue buildings are used for co-location with policing services, no additional cost is passed on to the taxpayer.. Ideally estates for Fire and Rescue should transfer to the PCC. Single Organisation Our ultimate goal in Northamptonshire is create a single organisation, with a single management structure and a single strategic plan that delivers a better service for victims and casualties and increases the participation of communities.

Police Fire Integration in Northamptonshire A report by Northamptonshire Police & Crime Commissioner

A new Target Operating Model and Joint Management Team spanning one organisation With a potential organisational cultural change of this size, it is critical that it is led from the ‘top down’, to ensure consistent goals and objectives throughout. Management should be combined into a single leadership team, reporting directly to a single Chief Officer who would be directly accountable to the PCC. There will remain specialisms within the structure of the workforce, based on the degree of risk and capability to deliver a specific service. Specialist teams from both Police and Fire will always be required to deal with high risk or specialist operations. The biggest benefits will be to integrating the two organisations will be at the bottom of the pyramid below. By diversifying skills at the bottom of the pyramid, the emergency services become a more attractive prospect as people looking to protect and serve their communities; gain a, broader skills base before choosing whether they commit to policing, fire or ambulance specialisms. The diagram on the next page shows the layers of specialism within the organisations both within the organisation currently and within the future integrated delivery model. Encouraging community involvement In Northamptonshire, the PCC has set an ambitious target to recruit 900 special constables by May 2016 in addition to the protected number of 1,220 full-time Police Officers who are already operational within the County. The Fire and Rescue Service already has a number of stations that operate using retained firefighters. It is clear that any new target operating model for an emergency service in the future needs to significantly change to factor in volunteering within its structure and have it embedded as standard. Emergency Service Commissioners The role of the PCC could be developed into becoming an Emergency Services Commissioner, particularly within County areas. As we have seen in Greater Manchester, the PCC’s role has been absorbed into a new mayoral model, which fits neatly within large metropolitan areas such as Greater Manchester and London. In County areas PCCs can grow their influence and role in driving and commissioning more cost effective and efficient services by being put in control of all the Emergency Services in their locality. The complexity with involving the ambulance service due to their regional structures has been recognised, however there are a number of options for integrating them at various stages of becoming a single organisation.

If successful, a major benefit is the emergency services would then be more responsive to changing community priorities through the PCC’s statutory role to be the ‘voice’ for the communities they serve. Integrated Policy and Performance Frameworks As with most organisations, the need for service or function specific policies and procedures at low level will remain. However, there would need to be alignment of corporate plans and strategies within the single organisation ensuring a consistent delivery against one organisational vision. Brand Identity All of the emergency service organisations carry strong, recognisable identities which resonate in different ways with the general public. We have been clear in Northamptonshire that there are clear benefits to maintaining the two organisations identity. The Fire and Rescue Service have a different public perception to that of the Police. They are seen as less of an enforcement agency and more a public protection agency in the eyes of the public meaning they can reach parts of the community that traditionally the Police have been unable to. By becoming a single organisation, we need to maintain and develop the best of what both organisations currently provide. Staff/Officer Terms and Conditions The challenge at present is that Police Officers, Police Staff and Fire and Rescue employees are all on different terms and conditions. Pension arrangements are different across the two organisations as are pay and conditions, consultation processes and welfare arrangements and so on which would have to be reviewed and managed in any potential new organisation. Regional Collaboration Both Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service and Northamptonshire Police have pre-existing arrangements with other Fire and Rescue Services and Forces, and other public sector organisations. It is important to consider at an early stage which functions in policing, fire and ambulance services will be delivered regionally in respect of both frontline and back office functions to ensure that the greatest savings are achieved and therefore reinvested into frontline resources.

15

Clearly one of the benefits of establishing a local emergency service in Northamptonshire would be the opportunity for other areas to potentially follow, which could also see further developments regionally in the future.

15

The future for integration

Truly integrated IT systems and infrastructure and shared control rooms A number of other Police Forces and Fire and Rescue Services have collaborated by co-locating their control rooms. However both organisations still operate off separate systems and even sit separately to one another. If we are to be truly transformational in bringing the emergency services together, we will need to establish a single and shared IT platform which enables all three emergency services to operate off the same system. This will help to ensure that the most appropriate resources are deployed and they are given all the relevant information they would need to properly respond. A shared IT system would also allow the emergency services to have access to previous information should it be needed in the future. Another benefit would be felt by residents when they ring for help or assistance. Instead of being asked which emergency service they require when they make a call to the control room, they should ask the member of the public to outline the incident to enable the most appropriate resource to be despatched to the incident. This would help to make control rooms more efficient and provide a seamless service to residents.

16

Involvement of the Ambulance Service Collaboration and co-responding already occurs with East Midlands Ambulance Service. It is acknowledged that there are complexities to further integration with ambulance services due to their different geographic boundaries, there are potential opportunities afforded by re-thinking the emergency services.

Rationalisation of estates across the emergency services will increase. There is also potential for local commissioning arrangements of ambulance services to be altered should the local emergency service be able to offer a better value and better service alternative. Managing down demand The Fire and Rescue Service has been successful at managing down demand; reducing it by over 40% in a ten-year period as a result of better investment in prevention and the development of more resistant materials, which have made fires less likely. In terms of managing down policing demand, we can reduce the burden other services place on policing, by challenging the way they do things. For example, the ambulance services policy on forced entry states that the local police force should be called if forced entry is needed, which creates a burden of around 1,000 calls for assistance on the Police Force every year. If the ambulance service could deal with these forced entries on their own, without the need for police assistance in a new single emergency service organisation, a significant amount of time and taxpayers’ money could be saved. Similarly if Local Authorities and other parts of the health service were to become involved in helping the community to take more responsibility for their area and those around them, more resources could be allocated to other demands over the long term.

Police Fire Integration in Northamptonshire A report by Northamptonshire Police & Crime Commissioner

The future for integration

Delivery Model High

MULTI-AGENCY RESPONSE

Risk/Capability

Risk/Capability

SPECIALIST RESPONSE

SECTOR SPECIFIC RESPONSE

INITIAL & SUPPORTING RESPONSE (Broad Skills) COMMUNITY RESPONSE (Specials, Volunteers, Community Groups)

Low

Availability

17

More information from www.northantspcc.org.uk

Design: www.paulmartinassociates.com

Published by The Northamptonshire Police and Crime Commissioner August 2015