Police keen to share more facilities with other services to strengthen ties

Police, fire and other public services could be based together in shared buildings under plans to foster stronger working relationships.

West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion says co-locating with other organisations would help them work together more effectively and provide better value for money.

Speaking at a meeting of the force’s Police and Crime Panel, Mr Campion said  it already had strong ties with Hereford and Worcester Fire Service, but not yet with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Mr Campion said: “We have good collaboration at the moment with Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service.

“They are based within the estate at Hindlip Park and a number of West Mercia Police functions are in fire and rescue buildings, and we have one shared building and the construction of another at Redditch is underway.”

He told the panel he was keen to “continue to share estates to maximise effectiveness”.

A report to the panel said the commissioner would only consider selling police stations if there were “fit-for-purpose alternatives within the same communities”, for example the recent sale of Tenbury Wells Police Station which saw police relocate to the town’s fire station last year.

Other shared facilities exist in Bromsgrove, Redditch, Leominster, Peterchurch and the Wyre Forest Hub.

The report said that while the relationship with the Shropshire Fire and Rescue  Service was “less developed”, the two organisations were “now engaged positively to look at possibilities and opportunities”.

Mr Campion told the panel: “In the south we have very good engagement with the fire service but that assessment is not the same in the north, in Shropshire and Telford.”

He said the two organisations had previously had a “much more stand-offish relationship”, but he had been reassured by the new chief fire officer that the service was keen to work more closely with police colleagues going forward.

The report said there were locations within Shropshire where the police had co-located with other public sector partners, such as in Pontesbury, where local officers are now based out of the Pavilion community hub. Similar arrangements exist in Wem, Whitchurch, Shifnal and Bridgnorth, the report added.

Telford and Wrekin councillor Tracey Onslow asked whether there were any plans for facilities in her borough.

Mr Campion said he was in talks with Newport Town Council about potentially basing police officers with other local services in the town.

He said: “I was very pleased to get a police base back in Shifnal, which was down to the local council being tenacious and making it happen.

“Just as I became commissioner, my predecessor had closed the police station in Newport and sold it.

“There is a desire to have a police base akin to the Shifnal model in Newport.

“We are having a lot of conversations with the town council as to how we could make that happen.”

He said he was also looking at possibilities for Wellington, where the police station is bigger than needed, but there were no imminent plans.

He added: “I see the local town councils as being at the heart of that across West Mercia, not just in Telford and Wrekin. The level of enthusiasm that comes from my town council colleagues is very gratifying.”

Bromsgrove councillor Helen Jones asked whether there was also the potential to bring the ambulance service on board with sharing sites.

But Mr Campion said: “Ambulance are traditionally difficult to engage with.

“They are much more mobile in their deployment and in their use of technology.

“We have not necessarily successfully engaged with them around estates in my time, but I don’t think other partners have if I’m honest.”