A CoPaCC Policing Report November 2016 Police and fire mergers and collaboration Sponsored by Published by Police and fire mergers and collaboration About us Sponsored by About CoPaCC CoPaCC was established shortly after the first PCC elections in November 2012 to monitor policing governance in England and Wales. CoPaCC now has a portfolio of services, working together to help organisations meet their governance and management challenges and opportunities. These include: l Policy and delivery CoPaCC’s national overview across policing, criminal justice and blue light provides us with an unrivalled insight into what works l Communications and social media CoPaCC publishes PolicingInsight.com, the UK’s foremost online magazine focusing on governance, management and politics in policing and criminal justice l Information and insight CoPaCC produces thematic reports and expert events covering key issues of policy and practice in the policing and criminal justice sectors l Monitoring standards CoPaCC monitors standards in policing governance, assessing OPCC performance and awarding quality marks in key areas of accountability Useful contacts Get in touch at [email protected] Visit www.copacc.org.uk Follow @CoPaCC Visit www.PolicingInsight.com Follow @PolicingInsight CoPaCC thematic reports and events Forthcoming reports and events: l Bodyworn video in policing l Statutory Transparency: Audit of OPCCs Copyright © 2016 CoPaCC Ltd / Policing Insight All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email the publisher: [email protected] CoPaCC Ltd, 128 Brunel Drive, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire SG18 8BJ United Kingdom Cover photography: Alamy Copyright © 2016 CoPaCC Ltd/Policing Insight 2 November 2016 Police and fire mergers and collaboration Contents Sponsored by Introduction The views of police and fire officers 4 Foreword 31 The single employer model: A challenging aspect l Neil Amos, policing and justice lead at PA Consulting of collaboration 5 Executive summary l Chief Constable Alec Wood, Chair of the National l Bernard Rix CEO, CoPaCC Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) Operations Coordination Committee 33 Support for mergers contingent on a robust local CoPaCC survey of OPCC intentions case for enhanced public safety 7 Introduction l Dave Etheridge, President: Chief Fire Officers 8 OPCC intentions for Police and Fire mergers Association (CFOA) (Infographic) 35 The times they are a-changing: Reform needed 9 Forging a new relationship: A look at police and beyond just police and fire fire collaboration l Chief Superintendent Gavin Thomas, President Police l Catherine Levin, freelance fire journalist Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales 12 Progress on shared governance 37 Focus on economy, efficiency, effectiveness and l Sandra Andrews, CoPaCC Research Analyst public safety 15 Progress on collaboration l Roy Wilsher, Chief Fire Officer Hertfordshire Fire and l Sandra Andrews, CoPaCC Research Analyst Rescue Service and Chief Executive Hertfordshire OPCC 40 Recognising the unique roles of police and Government viewpoint fire officers l 18 Maximising the opportunities for innovative Steve White, Chair of the Police Federation of England collaboration & Wales l Brandon Lewis MP, Minister of State for Policing and 41 Erosion of trust, resources and autonomy: No the Fire Service merger benefit for fire service l Dave Green, Fire Brigades Union national officer Police and fire mergers summary and analyses Case studies 43 Vision, Evidence and Governance – the pillars of 20 Mixed support and practical challenges point to Dorset and Wiltshire transformation a disjointed future l Darran Gunter QFSM, Chief Fire Officer of Dorset & l Nick Gargan QPM, CoPaCC Associate and former Chief Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service Constable at Avon and Somerset Constabulary 46 A route to merger and deeper collaboration 24 Making sense of police and fire mergers and l Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for collaboration Northamptonshire l Ian Wiggett, CoPaCC Director and former ACC for Greater Manchester Police In the media PCCs and local government: 47 Police and fire mergers media links from Policing Insight’s Media Monitor service Support and scepticism l Selected links to news, opinion, analysis and reports 25 A single vision and strategy: The case for moving from mainstream and specialist media beyond collaboration l Stephen Mold, Police and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire Appendices 26 Common sense collaboration: 54 CoPaCC Survey responses No mergers required 57 Table showing OPCC intentions for merging l Lord Willy Bach, Police and Crime Commissioner for Police and Fire governance Leicestershire 60 Maps showing police and fire regions and 30 Ground-up improvement, not change from above PCC political affiliation l Cllr Jeremy Hilton is Chair of the Local Government Association’s Fire Services Management Committee Copyright © 2016 CoPaCC Ltd/Policing Insight 3 November 2016 Police and fire mergers and collaboration Foreword Sponsored by A twin-track approach from police and fire Neil Amos says that working together to find the best fit for both services and assessing how to reap the benefits without compromising each's individual strength is the key to successful collaboration hen we really need them, we expect in improving public safety and value for money emergency services to be there, working l To assess how changes in governance could accel- Weffectively together. The work of the Joint erate or hinder achieving that joint prize, recognising Emergency Services Interoperability Programme the potential benefits of single accountability and (JESIP) has helped to underpin effective multi-agency faster decision making, while maintaining the individu- response, initially to major incidents and increasingly al strengths of each organisation. to preventative activity. PA is delighted to sponsor this CoPaCC thematic To be at their best, emergency services need to report on the next phase of police and fire collabo- work together, whether within a service to maximise ration, and we welcome its important contribution to availability of specialist teams or economies of scale, the debate. or within an area to provide a joined-up service to communities. But the research consistently shows that this does not happen as often as it should – col- About the author laboration has been described as a ‘house of cards’, Neil Amos is PA's policing and justice taking a long time to build and often fragile. lead. He has over 20 years' experi- The Policing and Crime Bill will encourage a step- ence of delivering change successfully change in the levels of collaboration, as it places a within the public sector in the UK and duty on police, fire and ambulance services to work abroad, both at PA Consulting Group together. It will also enable new forms of governance and as a Government official. Neil has worked with for police and fire, including the option for PCCs to most police forces in the UK and his consulting career take on responsibility for fire and rescue services demonstrates sustained high performance for clients where a local business case is made. that has been recognised three times for industry In our view, taking forward the opportunities pre- awards. He has regularly provided advice to boards sented by the Bill requires a twin-track approach from and ministers on politically sensitive programmes. Be- police and fire: fore joining PA, Neil held project management, policy l To work together to understand where further and private office roles in the UK Home Office and police and fire collaboration could best fit within the Lord Chancellor’s Department, including successful existing, and often complex, collaboration picture, and introduction of the largest electronic tagging scheme to assess the potential scale of opportunity in all areas in the world. of activity – operational through to support services – Copyright © 2016 CoPaCC Ltd/Policing Insight 4 November 2016 Police and fire mergers and collaboration Executive summary Sponsored by Police and fire: Mergers and collaboration Bernard Rix presents this report to survey OPCC intentions for mergers and collaboration and to collate the views of key stakeholders ince its establishment in late 2012, CoPaCC potentially create a single employer for both police has published a number of Thematic reports and fire personnel if they are able to demonstrate a Sfocusing on the work of Police and Crime clear business case for doing so. Commissioners. These Thematics - on transparency, This CoPaCC Thematic brings together expert views innovation, public engagement and partnership - have and insights on these potential changes, from rep- contributed significantly to the understanding of what resentatives of a range of stakeholder groups, each works best in policing governance. Indeed, following providing a unique perspective. I am most grateful to the publication of one of our first Thematic reports, each and every contributor for the input that they have I was invited as CoPaCC’s Chief Executive to give evi- provided. The following extracts and quotations illus- dence to the House of Commons’ Home Affairs Select trate the