'Collaboration is key'

Is the message for fire and police services

With budget cuts looming large on the horizon, speakers at law firm Weightmans’ Police and Fire Conference were anxious to spread the message of a collaborative approach between the two services as a way to beat the squeeze.

Tony McGuirk, CFO at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service who chaired the conference on 4th and 5th February urged delegates to build a ‘culture of collaboration’ – pooling resources to maintain service levels in a time of cut backs and savings. “The emergency services and the public all stand to gain from a collaborative approach and that is what this conference is all about.”

Under the tagline ‘Preparing for change’, more than 100 delegates convened to discuss the changing environment in which they provide vital public services. The annual conference was hosted by Weightmans which has the largest emergency services team of any UK law firm, and partnered by Risk Management Partners which offers risk management and insurance solutions to the public sector.

Continuing the theme, speaker Zoe Billingham from HM Inspectorate of Constabulary questioned why the police and fire services working together isn’t already the norm rather than only in the most obvious cases such as arson investigations. “I want to challenge you to facilitate change,” she said. “Some public services have been slow to embrace the idea of collaboration but this is beginning to gather momentum – fuelled by the need to deliver quality services at less cost. With cuts to the public sector budget looming, collaboration should be at the top of everyone’s agenda.”

Zoe argued that future spending cuts were an ‘opportunity to innovate’ and deliver value for money in public services. The sentiment was echoed by Mick Creedon, Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary who said that while policing might be partially shielded from extensive cuts, the emergency services would benefit greatly from a joined up approach.

“The public sector will be picking up the tab from the crunch, and whilst policing might be slightly more protected than the other emergency services, all of us are facing cuts, “ he said. “Now is the time for collaboration - pooling our resources and knowledge is the only way forward.”

Andrew Cooper, director of the public sector group at Weightmans said: “The theme of the conference was collaboration and I was delighted to see such enthusiasm to debate the issues arising from this. This is by no means straightforward but there seemed to be an acknowledgement that, by sharing knowledge and other resources, the police and fire services will continue to meet the ever-growing demand from the public and maintain the very highest level of service."