As the first area of the country to bring Police and Fire & Rescue Service under joint governance, it was always my vision that closer working between the Police and the Fire & Rescue Service would unlock significant resources to deliver better emergency services in Essex. Under joint governance, I have profiled over £18m of efficiency improvements to date from collaboration, all of which will be reinvested into the frontline. This is ahead of our original target of £15.3m, when we brought both services under joint governance. As the joint governance model and ways of working continue to mature, the potential for even better joint working between Police and Fire & Rescue is substantial, whilst at the same time keeping them as distinct and separate and maintaining the unique identity and function of each service. 

I will continue to strive for joined-up prevention and community safety work to build on our successes to date, such as the Joint Education Team who reach nearly 150,000 children a year through visits to schools. 

I will utilise the significant estates of both services and I will seek to pool capital budgets to improve efficiency through partnership and to provide improved public safety. 

We will bring together the Fleet Services of both Essex Police and Essex County Fire & Rescue Service in single workshops at Boreham, ensuring that our people have fit for purpose facilities and can keep critical assets on the road to keep Essex safe.

We will complete the investment in the co-location of a new-build police station in Harwich and Dovercourt alongside the fire station on the current site. 

I will continue with my programme of opening up fire stations as drop in facilities for policing colleagues. 

I will also pursue the delivery of a shared control facility to support both services to maximise capacity, capability and resilience. 

I will also roll out the Tri-Service Community Officer model to prevent harm and reduce vulnerability in our rural communities.

I will continue to maximise the benefits of the collaboration between Essex and Kent Police through the shared service model. This works well, and I will build on this and explore other opportunities to develop a shared service model across the East of England with other willing partners in Police and Fire & Rescue, and possibly other agencies.

I will continue to work at a national level to review the national funding formulas and get a fairer deal for Essex.