This report, published by Northants OPCC, titled Bluelights: Police Fire Integration in Northamptonshire, details the achievements towards integration so far, before setting out future aims.
The steps taken so far include:
- Northants Fire and Rescue Service’s senior management now work out of Northamptonshire Police Headquarters at Wootton Hall Park, to promote closer working arrangements between the two organisations
- The county’s first co-located police and fire station has been established in Thrapston
- A Joint Operations Team and Prevention and Community Protection department – both of which are headed by senior fire and rescue service managers – are now operational
- Collaborative pilot schemes have also been introduced, which have seen the two organisations co-responding to incidents together through two new Rural Intervention Vehicles (RIVs) and the Multi-Agency Incident Assessment Team (MIAT), which also includes the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS)
In addressing the future of blue-light integration, the report sets out how the technology used by the services will need to be amalgamated, how demand across the services will be managed down, and how to involve the Ambulance Service.
Click here to read the full report.