Agenda item

Blue Light Collaboration Programme - Progress Report

(To receive a report by Tim Joyce, Area Manager – Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, which provides an update on the progress made to date on the Blue Light Collaboration Project and an indication of work which has been or is planned to be undertaken)

 

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report by the Area Manager – Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue which provided a progress update on the Blue Light Collaboration Programme which was agreed in 2015.

 

Members were advised that the Blue Light Collaboration programme was a range of projects to enable collaborative working between Lincolnshire Police, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue and the Ambulance service.

 

The Committee were informed that the shared headquarters between Lincolnshire Police and Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue had been completed in 2017 and the shared control room facility with Lincolnshire Police had been completed in March 2020.

 

The South Park complex was formally completed in February 2020 and the site was now fully operational. It was noted that South Park had been a complex project, however despite the challenges faced it had been badged as a great success and was a flagship of collaboration for Lincolnshire throughout the country.

 

Members also received an update on the Wider Estates and Wider Integration and Interoperability projects.

 

Members were referred to Appendix A for a financial breakdown of the programme.

 

Members considered the report and during the discussion the following points were noted:

 

·       Officers clarified that they did not have a blueprint to work towards when building the South Park centre and the facility remained a flagship across the county as it was designed from scratch and the first tri-service facility to also include a home office standard custody suite on-site. However, the project had been successful and the building had been well designed.

·       The East Coast and Hertfordshire Consortium were a consortium of control rooms that had been brought together and was a separately funded initiative.

·       The link between the Lincolnshire, Humberside, Norfolk and Hertfordshire control rooms provided a significant level of resilience for the service, enabling handlers to better manage call spikes and absorb calls.

·       Members also commended the use of the County's Emergency centre and the excellent partnership working that operated from within the building.

·       The Chief Fire Officer commended the work of the Emergency Planning team who had worked extremely hard since the Wainfleet Flooding emergency in June 2019. He also commended the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum's county wide response to the covid-19 pandemic with the involvement of many partners and external organisations.

·       It was noted that the movement of the control room function to Nettleham had allowed the Emergency Planning Team to move into a refurbished area of the old county emergency centre. It was initially planned that the Emergency Planning team be based within the new building at South Park, but it was felt that it was more beneficial to refurbish the old building for use by the Emergency Planning Team.

·       The shared control room between the police and fire and rescue service provided benefits in the case that there was a large scale emergency such as a terrorist incident and would enable both teams to collaborate and work effectively together.

·       The council tax charges for the new South Park Building was split between each service within the lease for the building.

·       There were still some opportunities for the Blue Light Collaboration Project that were yet to be progressed, which included a possible Joint Cadet Service and improving the synergies between some operational teams that existed.

·       Officers felt that it may have been beneficial to have a tri-service training building on site at South Park however this was restricted with the finances available.

·       The Committee commended the new Tri-Service Operational station at South Park, particularly with it being a flagship building that would lead the way for others.

 

RESOLVED:

 

          That the progress of the Blue Light Collaboration programme be noted.

 

Supporting documents:

 

 
 
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