Craven District Council : Craven District Council responds to proposals for governance of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Craven District Council responds to proposals for governance of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Craven District Council has agreed to back North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority's proposals for the future governance of the Fire and Rescue Service.

The Police and Crime Commissioner, Julia Mulligan, has proposed taking on legal and overarching responsibility for the Fire and Rescue Service.

However the Fire and Rescue Authority prefers a 'representation model' where the Police and Crime Commissioner is represented on the Fire Authority and its committees.

Having heard both sides of the case, Craven District Council's Select Committee agreed to support the representation model, and this decision was approved by the Policy Committee on September 11.

The full response of the Select Committee is as follows: "There is some merit in the case and aspirations expressed within the proposed business case for the future governance of the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Services, however, with no time pressures referenced within the 2017 Policing and Crime Act, the Council's preference for the future governance of the service, in the first instance is the representation model; the expectation being that the representation model will lead to greater collaboration between services.

"In reaching this conclusion, the Select Committee has reflected on what it considered were a number of grey areas within the business case, and the point that adoption of the representation model enables its operation for a period of time and allows progress made on collaboration to be reviewed within a reasonable timescale, with options for change considered at that point should satisfactory progress not be made. This approach enables a progressive stepping up of arrangements, if necessary, informed by experience.

"Amongst stakeholders there is a desire for collaboration between the three blue light services and the Council would also wish to see active investigation of the opportunities for collaboration with the ambulance service under the preferred option."

The North Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel has also backed the 'representation model' and has rejected the proposals put forward by the Police and Crime Commissioner.