A step forward in the merging of Wiltshire and Dorset fire services took place today with the submission of a combination order to Secretary of State Eric Pickles.

Subject to a period of consultation, and the Secretary of State finding no need for an enquiry into the merits of merger, it is expected that the order will be made in February.

The required legislation will then be passed by the end of March 2015, allowing the new fire authority to come into being on April 1, 2016.

At meetings of the two existing Fire Authorities earlier this month, the name Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Authority was adopted for the new administrative body.

Cllr Christopher Devine, chairman of Wiltshire & Swindon Combined Fire Authority, said: "Submitting our Combination Order is a significant step in the process of moving to a new, larger, more resilient and financially stable Fire & Rescue Authority, serving communities across Wiltshire and Dorset.

"Elected members in both counties have worked very hard to ensure that agreement has been reached on key issues, and we have been liaising with the Government to ensure that the financial hurdles to achieving a new fire and rescue authority can be overcome.”

“Another key concern was that there should be parity in the number of elected members representing Wiltshire and Swindon, and those representing Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole, and this has been resolved quite amicably.

"The new fire and rescue authority will have 30 members, with 15 from each geographical county – although this can be reviewed by the new body in the future.”

Shadow governance arrangements for the transition to the new authority have also been agreed.

Simon Routh-Jones, chief fire officer of Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service, said: “While the move to the new organisation is both exciting and challenging, we also recognise the need to maintain the excellent frontline service that our local communities expect to receive.

"As such, the shadow governance arrangements are key to ensuring that work to set up the new Service runs in parallel to ‘business as usual’.”

At the heart of the new combined fire and rescue authority will be a purpose-built community safety centre, which will also act as a ‘virtual headquarters’.

The Government has granted £5.54 million from its Fire Transformation Fund to support the construction of this facility, with money also available to align ICT between the existing Services and support other transition costs.

Mr Routh-Jones said: “The new safety centre, which expands upon the highly successful SafeWise programme that already exists in Weymouth and Bournemouth, will enable us to deliver a range of education activities to communities from across Wiltshire.

"This is a very exciting development, and we were delighted to win Government support.

"A project team is now scoping potential sites and we are also liaising with partners, including other emergency services and local authorities, to see what additional benefits can be realised through this scheme.”