Crime chief’s takeover of Peterborough and Cambridgeshire fire service delayed despite £250k cost to taxpayers

In March 2018, the Home Secretary approved a request from then Police and Crime Commissioner Jason Ablewhite to take over the governance of Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, despite opposition from local authorities.

The decision was subsequently challenged in the courts by politicians on the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority - which would have been replaced by Mr Ablewhite - as it believed the crime chief’s business case had contained “insufficient evidence” for the transfer of power and was “flawed”.

However, a judicial review was dismissed by the High Court at the end of July 2019 and a later application to appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in March 2020.

But despite this, it has now been revealed that the governance takeover will be delayed for a good while yet.

A report submitted to the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Panel from current crime commissioner Ray Bisby states: “While still being clear that the original decision was the right one and in the interest of the local community, the Home Office has recently informed the commissioner that in light of the time that has passed since the approval decision, an updated business case will be required.

“The Home Office will not be able to reconsider a business case until after the Police and Crime Commissioner elections in 2021.”

In March, information provided via the Freedom of Information Act to the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed that political wrangling over the proposed takeover had cost taxpayers almost £250,000, with more set to be spent going forward.

At that time the fire authority had spent £83,545.95 on legal fees.

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner had spent £98,677.60, plus a further £61,333 from a government grant.

Of that, £139,000 was spent on external consultancy fees for developing a business case to assess governance options and £19,000 spent on legal advice.

The election for the new police and crime commissioner was due to take place in May this year but was delayed 12 months by the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Bisby took over from Mr Ablewhite last November after the latter resigned from the role.

Mr Ablewhite quit after he was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct after a complaint was made to Cambridgeshire police about messages he had sent on social media.

In April this year, it was revealed that the Crown Prosecution Service had decided to take no action against Mr Ablewhite, although the person who made the original complaint has decided to appeal the decision.

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