Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Gloucestershire County Council review of police and fire governance arrangements that concluded that a merger of the fire authority with the police and crime commissioner for the area would not be cost-effective, for what reason she has decided to allocate £100,000 from her Department's budget to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire for the commissioning of a second review on such a proposed merger.

The Policing and Crime Act (2017) provides for PCCs to take on responsibility for the governance of fire and rescue services in their area, where a local case is made and it appears to the Secretary of State to be in the interests of economy, efficiency and effectiveness or public safety to give effect to the proposal.

The Home Secretary will respond shortly to a recommendation from the Police Reform and Transformation Board that grant funding be provided to up to 10 PCCs, including Gloucestershire, to support the development of proposals relating to future fire and rescue governance.