ANGUS Macpherson has said he wants to properly look at government proposals to give Police and Crime Commissioners control over fire services.

The Wiltshire PCC has said organisations working together is the way forward in the face of increasingly tighter budgets and can see why some of his colleagues elsewhere in the country would be interested.

It has been revealed the government is considering allowing PCCs make the decision, as long as they can gain local support for the move.

The Fire Brigade Union (FBU) has objected to the proposals but a number of commissioners up and down the country have welcomed the move.

Mr Macpherson, who announced he was standing again in next year’s election, said the issue was complicated in Wiltshire because of the local fire service’s upcoming merger with Dorset.

However, he but did not rule anything out.

“I will be interested to study the Home Office consultation paper when it is published to see the proposals in detail," he said.

“The police service, like the rest of the public sector, is having to make significant savings and I can imagine that some of my fellow commissioners may wish to talk to their fire and rescue service partners about the feasibility of bringing their organisations together.

“It is important to stress that we are working closely with Swindon Borough Council and that we have a strategic partnership with Wiltshire Council.

“We are also now in the early stages of building a strategic alliance with Avon & Somerset Constabulary which I believe will bring about significant savings and improved efficiency whilst protecting neighbourhood policing.

“Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service is in the process of merging with its counterpart in Dorset, whilst Dorset Police are in an alliance with Devon & Cornwall Police.

“I’m sure we will work with our Fire & Rescue partners where possible.”

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, said: “However, union chiefs have hit back at the move, which they say will severely risk the integrity of the fire service in the eyes on many people.

“Firefighting is a profession, as is policing, with a completely different set of skills – the two can’t just be slung together to save money.

“The public love firefighters because of the selflessness of what they do and their professionalism, and they offer their trust when they allow them into their homes for fire prevention and rescue work.

“This would be jeopardised severely by merging their work with police.”