THE WATCHDOG which holds North Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner to account has said it is concerned about her proposals to oversee the fire and rescue service.

The North Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel says it is concerned about its capacity to hold commissioner Julia Mulligan to account if she takes on additional oversight of the county’s fire and rescue service.

In a public consultation that runs until September 22, she is proposing that the current fire and rescue watchdog, the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority (NYFRA), be scrapped and the police and crime commissioner takes on its role, as well as holding the chief constable and police force to account.

The Police and Crime Panel, made up of elected councillors from the district councils, North Yorkshire County Council, City of York Council and community members, says it would have to take on additional responsibility to provide checks and balances to the PCC’s performance in these areas.

Councillor Ashley Mason, joint vice chair of the panel and a City of York Councillor, said: “The Home Office has made it clear that they are not looking to extend our powers, or the resources at our disposal to be able to do a much bigger job effectively.

“Panels are often told to focus instead on building a good working relationship with the PCC and their office to be able to do our job effectively. We constantly strive towards this in North Yorkshire.

“But panel members have serious concerns that if the fire authority is scrapped and the responsibility for scrutiny falls solely on the panel, there is really no accountable body with any great weight behind it to ensure that the PCC is doing all she should for our police and fire services.”

Cllr Mason says the current NYFRA has built up expertise around fire and rescue services which, under the proposals, would be lost.

Councillor Peter Wilkinson, joint vice chair of the panel and a Hambleton district councillor, added: “We expect to have to almost double the amount of time and resource that we put in if we take on the role of scrutiny over fire and rescue, too. This will have significant implications for all panel members and those who provide support to us.

“We raised concerns with the PCC earlier this year about the risks of scrutiny being diluted as a result, but our concerns seem to have been somewhat underplayed in the business case that the PCC has put out to the public.”

The panel is the latest public body to express concern at Julia Mulligan’s proposals.

The existing fire authority and North Yorkshire County Council have both rejected her case for taking over governance of the fire service and are instead calling for her to become the 17th member of the fire authority.

But Mrs Mulligan said her plan would enable more collaboration between police and fire in the county, while ensuring both organisations remained independent.

She said it would result in considerable financial savings as currently the public was paying for two headquarters, IT systems and finance teams and the savings could help protect front line firefighting roles.

The public survey can be accessed at www.telljulia.com.

The panel will meet on 14 September at 11.30am at County Hall, Northallerton, to consider the PCC’s business case in detail. Panel meetings are open to members of the public.