The Fire Brigades Union has responded to reports that the government plans to scrap the controversial model of police and crime commissioners.
Currently, four PCCs— in Cumbria, Essex, Northamptonshire, and Staffordshire— hold responsibility for fire and rescue services in addition to their duties for policing.
They are referred to as Police, Fire and Crime Commissioners (PFCCs).
Firefighters have called for an end to this model, which came under intense scrutiny following a series of scandals around then PFCC Stephen Mold in 2024. [1]
The union says that combining police and fire service governance is a “failed and dangerous experiment” and must be “scrapped for good.”
Steve Wright, Fire Brigades Union general secretary said:
The Fire Brigades Union welcomes the end of the failed and undemocratic experiment of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioners.
Fire and rescue is a humanitarian service and is not about law enforcement. Attempts to combine governance with the police force have proved disastrous
In areas where oversight of the fire service has been handed to a police and crime commissioner, democratic accountability has gone out the window.
The government must now ensure that all fire and rescue services have rigorous democratic structures in place, overseen and scrutinised by an elected board.”
