Foreword to the Report
The Emergency Services Collaboration Working group warmly welcomes the examples of collaboration between the emergency services highlighted in their recent overview report. The overview provides some great examples of organisations coming together to improve the services they deliver to their communities, and in many instances, saving money in the process.
With an increasing demand for some of our services, coupled with the current and expected restrictions on funding, collaboration provides opportunities to truly innovate and save money, as can be seen in the overview.
During the summer of 2014, central government asked ambulance trusts, fire and rescue
authorities and police forces across England and Wales to provide examples of collaboration they were engaged in and their future plans. The overview therefore provides a snapshot in time of where collaboration is currently occurring between the blue light emergency services and the Working Group are confident that this will continue to develop and expand.
Going forward, the overview will provide a baseline for the Emergency Services Collaboration Working Group to commission research into those areas of collaboration that appear to provide the most potential for improving services.
This research will provide a firm evidence base for those services wishing to pursue their own transformational projects and for future policy development.
About the Emergency Services Collaboration Working Group
The Emergency Services Collaboration Working Group was formed in September 2014. By providing strategic leadership, coordination and an overview across England and Wales, the group aims to improve emergency service collaboration.
The working group comprises of senior leaders from the Association of Ambulance Chief
Executives (AACE), Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), College of Policing, Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) and the Local Government Association (LGA) on behalf of Fire Authorities.
