Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Sir Clive Loader is to invest more than £300,000 into a project aimed at reducing demand on blue light services in the busiest area of the city, it can be revealed.
Sir Clive has set aside £314,000 from his Strategic Partnership Development Fund for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s Braunstone Blues initiative.
The project will focus on the Braunstone Park community – an area attracting the highest demand for fire, police and ambulance services across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland – and will involve the development of a multiagency Braunstone Blues Project Task Force.
This task force will undertake positive engagement working with local residents to reduce demand on police, fire and ambulance services and will target resources at those people identified as creating the highest demand for the services. The project will deliver ‘Healthy, Safe and Secure’ visits to individual households, establish a ‘Citizens’ Academy’ to recruit and train local residents to become ‘Expert Citizens’ to encourage greater community cohesion, work alongside local community groups and carry out a mapping exercise to assess the available support services.
The project is designed as a proof of concept and is aimed at reducing demand pressures on emergency staff and improving the way services are delivered to create safer communities. If successful, the idea could be rolled out to other high demand areas within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland to reduce costs and improve outcomes.
Sir Clive announced his new Strategic Partnership Development Fund as part of his 2015/16 budget and precept proposals. Funding worth up to £2m has been set aside over the next two financial years to support and develop new strategic partnerships, collaborations and joint working across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
Announcing the grant, Sir Clive said: “With less and less centralised funding available, blue light services must adapt and work together to meet new demand pressures. Innovation is desperately needed to ensure we are all working in the most efficient way and using our resources effectively.
“The Braunstone Blues project supports this vision by focusing on prevention and education to reduce risk and harm. The Fire Service has considerable experience in promoting safety awareness; the number of fires and deaths has reduced significantly over the years. Quite often the demands of one agency have a direct impact on another and so it makes sense to tackle the problem jointly and share our expertise for the common goal.
“Preventing emergencies and avoiding unnecessary blue light responses will free up valuable resources for all three agencies without undermining the quality service the public receives.”
The proposal, which was formally agreed by members of the Strategic Partnership Board at a meeting last week, is fully supported by all three emergency services as well as Leicester City Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group.
Andrew Brodie, Assistant Chief Fire and Rescue Officer, said: “There are lots of reasons that this unique approach to reducing risk and demand is the best possible for people in Braunstone Park. It will stop incidents happening in the first place. It will support people to be healthier, safer and more secure in their homes. It will also help local people to help themselves and their neighbours, whilst reducing reliance on stretched public services.
“By working together we will not only improve our service, but also increase our ability to deliver services and save money; this is a win-win for everyone! Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service has proudly reduced demand, deaths and injuries. We will improve even further in partnership and be able to share our learning about prevention and protection.”
Leicestershire Police’s, Assistant Chief Constable, Phil Kay said: The Braunstone Blues team has been working together for a short time and have already had a positive impact on the residents and community groups in the area. Working with other emergency services and wider partners will allow us to provide better services to the people of Braunstone and find new ways to reduce demand on all services. I am confident that this will lead to the residents of Braunstone creating a healthy, safer and secure place to live for themselves.
Once we see how successful this will be in the Braunstone area we will work to roll out similar initiatives in other areas of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
Sir Clive will now liaise with Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service to agree a delivery plan for the project, which will include regular performance and financial monitoring requirements.
Ends
Media Enquiries: Sallie Blair - 01283 821012 / 07702 541401
Posted on Monday 9th May 2016