DN 01/2021 Leyburn police estate

07 January 2021

The Commissioner has decided to create a joint police and fire station in Leyburn following an assessment of local opportunities and in agreement with the Chief Constable and Chief Fire Officer.

Leyburn police station will be put up for sale and an investment will be made into the fire station to modernise and improve its facilities.

Background

North Yorkshire Police’s estates strategy is to co-locate in local communities with partners wherever it makes sense. This allows the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner to save money to reinvest in frontline services, whilst retaining local police teams in local communities, which is particularly important in rural areas where the footfall and use of buildings can be low and therefore inefficient.

Following the transfer of governance of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service to the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, a number of tactical collaborations between the two services can now be rapidly progressed.  This is already successfully in place in Ripon, Thirsk, Selby and elsewhere.

In Leyburn, where the fire station has significant issues – not least the height of the ceiling does not easily accommodate the fire engine – and the police station is metres away, it makes sense to share a building and house the two teams in one place.  In addition, as Leyburn fire station is crewed by on-call firefighters, who are not permanently on site, it also means the building will be better used, increasing the productivity of the asset.

This decision is expected to provide a capital receipt of approximately £250,000 and an expected annual saving of around £12,000 per year from only having one building to maintain. Some of the proceeds of the sale of the police station will go towards refurbishing the fire station, extending the building (subject to planning) to create space for both teams and improving the garage area making it fit for purpose and allowing the fire engines to enter and exit the building without scraping the ceiling.

The local police team will move to the refurbished fire and police station, which will have four hot-desk positions.  The front counter will continue to operate as it does now, as volunteer led, open on Fridays and Saturdays 11.00am to 1.00pm.

Decision Record

The Commissioner has decided to create a joint police and fire station in Leyburn following an assessment of local opportunities and in agreement with the Chief Constable and Chief Fire Officer. Leyburn police station will be put up for sale and an investment will be made into the fire station to modernise and improve its facilities.

Julia Mulligan

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire

Statutory Officer Advice

Legal, Management and Equality Implications

The Commissioner’s Assistant Chief Executive and Deputy Monitoring Officer, on behalf of the Commissioner’s Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer, having read this report and having considered such information as has been provided at the time of being asked to express this view, is satisfied that this report does not ask the Commissioner to make a decision which would (or would be likely to) give rise to a contravention of the law.

Financial and Commercial

The Commissioner’s Chief Finance Officer and S151 Officer has advised that the proposals represent good value for money in respect of both reduced revenue costs and the release of a capital receipt also which can then be reinvested within the organisation.