DN 13/2020 Ingleton police estate

21 December 2020

Background

Currently a small Neighbourhood Policing Team serving the four western wards in Craven (including Bentham) are based in Ingleton, though they are rarely in the building as they are out on patrol. The building is not manned and does not have a front counter, so is closed to the public and stands empty the majority of the time. If the police station in Ingleton was kept it would require significant renovation and ongoing maintenance.

Response to incidents and emergencies is either provided by these local resources from wherever they are on patrol, or is supported by resources from elsewhere in Craven.

The Fire Station in Bentham is an on-call station with one Public Safety Officer based there. It also therefore stands empty for the majority of the time but is required to house the fire engine. There is therefore the space for the neighbourhood policing team to be based from this station.

Moving the neighbourhood policing team to Bentham will not change the model of response to incidents and emergencies as the current practice of responding from patrol or by other resources in Craven will remain. Furthermore, the Neighbourhood Policing Team will hold a weekly drop-in session in Ingleton to provide predictable access to the police which represents an improvement on current arrangements where availability is unpredictable.

The move will see an increase in revenue costs for NYP of between £2,000 and £6,500 p/a accounting for rent of space in Bentham Fire Station and the cost for hire of a drop-in venue in Ingleton. However, this would be balanced by the capital receipt from the sale of the building and removing the need for investment to refurbish and maintain the police station if it were kept which was estimated at £50,000 in the next year.

Decision Record

The Commissioner has decided to approve the Chief Constable’s recommendation to dispose of Ingleton Police Station, and agrees, in consultation with the Chief Fire Officer, that the local Neighbourhood Policing Team should co-locate with the Fire and Rescue Service in Bentham Fire Station and hold regular local drop in sessions in Ingleton.

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 he is satisfied that this proposal represents value for money. Even though the running costs are slightly higher by using the Fire Station, the Police had projected needing to spend over £50k to maintain Ingleton Police Station in 2020/21 alone, with more expenditure required in 2021/22.