Planning Committee
Meeting to be held on 18 November 2024.
Blue Light Collaboration Board Update
Contact for further information: DCFO Steve Healey
Tel: 01772 866802
Executive Summary
This paper provides an update regarding Blue Light Collaboration Board progress. Recommendation
Planning Committee to note the report.
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Information
The Police, Fire & Rescue Service, and Ambulance Service have a duty to collaborate under the Policing and Crime Act 2017. The objectives are to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and deliver improved outcomes.
This paper provides an update on the progress against key workstreams being progressed under the Blue Light Collaboration Board (BLCB). The workstreams are effectively managed through the Strategic and Tactical level meeting structures and are contributing towards improving outcomes, providing better value for money, reducing demand, and reducing inequalities within communities.
Leadership Development
Partners have scoped collaboration opportunities for leadership development. Each Service agreed to host a leadership development event for senior leaders from all three organisations. Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) hosted the first event in October, which focussed on ‘Leadership and well-being’ and explored cross-coaching. The event was a success with over 60 people attending from across all three services and the partners will meet again in November to develop cross-coaching opportunities.
The Services are planning the next session which will be hosted by North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) in early February 2025, where the focus for this event will be on ‘Media’.
The final session will be hosted by Lancashire Police in Spring 2025. The group are considering an interesting area around ‘Generational Differences’ with a view to potentially exploring this as the final topic.
Estates and Co-location
This is a long-term workstream which may deliver significant efficiencies and effectiveness where co-location sites are identified.
In October the project objectives were reviewed and affirmed, aligned to the Strategic Board objectives. The Estates and Co-location workstream focus on four key areas: Sharing knowledge and information, estates and asset integration, resilience and shared opportunities in support functions, and financial opportunities.
Blue Light partners are reviewing property asset management strategies to identify potential areas for co-ordinating future development plans over the next 5-10 years and discussions are continuing in relation to future opportunities. All current locations for each organisation have been mapped, with the focus now on understanding of longer-term plans for each service. The LFRS ‘Preston Area Review’ continues to be discussed and considered with Blue light partners regarding collaboration opportunities.
Community First Responder
This workstream involves LFRS staff volunteering as Community First Responders (CFR) to support NWAS. LFRS staff volunteers undertake an initial CFR training programme at LFRS Training Centre. Once qualified, they can shadow existing CFR practitioners to develop their clinical abilities and build confidence in their newly acquired skills.
The Service now have 13 LFRS staff volunteers responding to life threatening emergencies in Lancashire from the workplace and administering life-saving interventions in the initial vital minutes before NWAS colleagues arrive. Since the workstream commenced in 2023, LFRS has responded to more than 180 CFR incidents including unresponsive/ collapsed, not breathing, cardiac arrests, seizures, strokes, and choking. This has resulted in many successful outcomes.
The Service is now scoping ‘phase 3’ of the workstream which will involve On-Call staff volunteers becoming CFRs within more remote parts of the county, where NWAS resources and response times can be more challenging. This will further improve outcomes for medical emergencies within those communities.
All collaboration projects within this update are included within existing agreed revenue and capital budgets.
LFRS have reviewed the policy for recharging other organisations and agencies for use of LFRS personnel and equipment at non-statutory incidents. The policy provides decision-makers with guidance on how and when charging is appropriate and is aligned to the NFCC published guidance on recharge costs.
N/A
Equality and Diversity Implications
N/A
Data Protection (GDPR)
N/A
HR Implications
N/A
Business Risk
Risk if there is limited evidence regarding the duty to collaborate.
Legal implications
The Policing and Crime Act 2017 introduced a statutory duty to collaborate on the Police, Fire, and emergency Ambulance Services where it is in the interests of efficiency and effectiveness. The duty to collaborate is non-prescriptive and locally enabling.
Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985
List of background papers
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Reason for inclusion in Part 2 if appropriate: N/a