Deputy Police & Crime Commissioner, Matthew Barber, has welcomed the new Policing and Crime Act which received Royal Assent on 31 January 2017.
The new law enables important changes to the governance of fire and rescue services as well as introducing further reform to policing.
Police and Fire Minister, Brandon Lewis MP, has set out the Government's determination to bring fire and rescue services under the control of Police & Crime Commissioners together with the police force.
The changes are intented to build capability, improve efficiency, increase public confidence and further enhance local accountability.
The Policing and Crime Act 2017 places a duty on police and fire services to work together and enable police and crime commissioners to take on responsibility for fire and rescue services where a local case is made.
Matthew Barber said,
"There are currently three Fire & Rescue Services in the Thames Valley. There is already a level or operational collaboration that takes place but we can go much further. We need to recognise the different roles and traditions of the various organisations but working more closely will save taxpayers money and improve public safety. I am keen to work with the Thames Valley's three Fire & Rescue Services to put together the best case to submit to Government."
Other provisions of the Act include:
- reform the police complaints and disciplinary systems to ensure that the public have confidence in their ability to hold the police to account, and that police officers will uphold the highest standards of integrity
- further support the independence of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and ensure that it is able to undertake end-to-end inspections of the police
- enable chief officers to make the most efficient and effective use of their workforce by giving them the flexibility to confer a wider range of powers on police staff and volunteers (while for the first time specifying a core list of powers that may only be exercised by warranted police officers)
- increase the accountability and transparency of the Police Federation for England and Wales by extending its core purpose to cover the public interest and making it subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000
- reform pre-charge bail to stop people remaining on bail for lengthy periods without independent judicial scrutiny of its continued necessity
- stop the detention in police cells of children and young people under 18 who are experiencing a mental health crisis (and restrict the circumstances when adults can be taken to police stations) by reforming police powers under sections 135 and 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983
- amend the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, including to ensure that 17-year-olds who are detained in police custody are treated as children for all purposes, and to increase the use of video link technology
- amend the Firearms Acts, including to better protect the public by closing loopholes that can be exploited by criminals and terrorists
- make it an offence to possess pyrotechnic articles at qualifying musical events
- reform the late night levy to make it easier for licensing authorities to implement and put cumulative impact policies on a statutory footing
- better protect children and young people from sexual exploitation by ensuring that relevant offences in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 cover the live streaming of images of child sex abuse
- increase the maximum sentence from 5 to 10 years’ imprisonment for those convicted of the most serious cases of stalking and harassment
- confer an automatic pardon on deceased individuals convicted of certain consensual gay sexual offences which would not be offences today, and on those persons still living who have had the conviction disregarded under the provisions of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012