Cumbria PCC: Peter McCall to take control of fire service

Cumbria County Council currently has responsibility for the service, but it is due to be abolished in 2023

Approval has been given for Cumbria's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) to take control of the county's fire service from April.

PCC Peter McCall submitted a bid to the Home Office to take over governance of Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service earlier this year.

The Fire Brigade Union (FBU) had previously opposed the move, fearing the closure of three fire stations.

Mr McCall said he wanted to improve the service's infrastructure.

Cumbria County Council currently has responsibility for the fire service, but it is due to be abolished next year along with the existing city and borough councils.

This will make way for two unitary authorities of Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness.

Mr McCall said he had bid to take on the fire service in order to remove its fate from the local government reform process.

Peter McCall will be the county's first Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner

Debates over the fate of the fire service could have seen the new councils gain responsibility for it solely on their patches or the establishment of a new fire authority.

Mr McCall will be the county's first Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC).

He said: "As the county council is replaced by two unitary authorities and new potential legislation will require a nominated and elected individual to assume responsibility for fire governance, it makes sense to bring governance together with the office of the PCC which already carries out a similar function for policing.

"The essential mission is to ensure that there is no disruption to the delivery of services to the public and the protection of support services and staff in a smooth transition which will take some time."

Councillor Jonathan Brook of the Westmorland and Furness Authority said the move was a "pragmatic solution".

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service's chief fire officer John Beard, said: "I would like to provide reassurance to members of the public that what the service delivers will not change - this a change to the governance only."

Following a consultation of fire service union members earlier this year, 54% of respondents said they would prefer the service to become a Combined Fire and Rescue Authority (CFRA), with 46% wanting Mr McCall to oversee it as a PFCC.

The union had called Mr McCall's proposal "disastrous" with the risk of three fire stations closing and loss of 18 jobs, but the PCC called their objections "politically motivated", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.