SIX police authorities have been given the go-ahead to join forces in a bid to stave off the effects of government budget cuts.
Cheshire Police Authority will now link with Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and North Wales as part of a regional committee focused on five key areas of police business.
Margaret Ollerenshaw, chairman of Cheshire Police Authority said: “We are all facing the same financial pressures and in some areas of policing it makes sense for us to join together to share resources and make savings.”
A regional air support unit will be established using four helicopters and four air bases to supply 24/7 police air coverage across the North West and North Wales from a centrally located control room.
This will ensure that the nearest helicopter can be sent to an incident and operations could go live by as early as summer 2011.
As a result, the current Merseyside helicopter, the oldest in the fleet, and air base will be decommissioned.
A regional chief firearms coordinator will be appointed to develop and establish better ways of working to understand firearms threat and risk at a regional level, common ways of working and regional training and development of firearms officers.
It is understood that the forces will share records and information in a more succinct way in an effort to better tackle public order incidents and respond to threat and risk on a regional basis and develop joint training for command teams and officers. A high-level review of forensic services has taken place to establish the potential for regional collaboration.
The move for combined working comes after regional collaboration was identified as a key priority following cuts by the Coalition Government to policing across the UK.
Cheshire Constabulary alone must save more than £35 million over the next four years.
Margaret Ollerenshaw added: “Police forces are managed and run separately from each other, so while these agreements seem like common sense, they will need some careful planning in order to ensure that each force continues to provide their communities with efficient and cost effective policing services that reflect the needs of those communities.
“This demonstrates the willingness and determination of police authorities and Chief Constables in this region to match police services to risk and to demand while maintaining the flexibility necessary to ensure that local needs are recognised and addressed.”