Public assurance, and value for Money in the 3 'blue light' emergency services in England: The Coalition Governments Scoresheet

A recent report by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA 2015) and another for the National Audit Office (Ferry and Murphy forthcoming) has prompted re-examination of the financial sustainability of... [ view full abstract ]

A recent report by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA 2015) and another for the National Audit Office (Ferry and Murphy forthcoming) has prompted re-examination of the financial sustainability of locally delivered services in England. The latter report was intended to provide an overview of the current state of development or ‘fitness for purpose’ of the audit and assurance regimes in England, in the context of continuing austerity over the previous five years.
In England, there is also considerable debate about the economy, efficiency and effectiveness by which these services are delivered and whether structural reform and/or greater service integration would be desirable in improving services and reducing costs in a period of continuing austerity. In fact the new Conservative government, elected in 2015, have recently issued proposals for greater collaboration between the three ‘blue-light’ services and alternative governance arrangements for fire and rescue services in their white paper ‘Enabling closer working between the Emergency Services’.
Our paper will therefore examine public assurance, accountability and transparency arrangements for the three ‘blue light’ emergency services namely Police, Ambulance and Fire and Rescue Services in England. The intention is to contribute to the debate but also to identify potential value for money risks and operational improvements to public assurance arrangements across the three services.

Key Words: Police, Fire and Rescue, Ambulances, Value for Money, Public Assurance

Corresponding Author: Peter Murphy, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. 0115 8488092 Peter.murphy@.ntu.ac.uk