Cleveland Police and Cleveland Fire Brigade has been exploring the proposal to share accommodation via discussions at the joint Collaborative Development Working Group (CDWG)
The CDWG has been looking at Thornaby neighbourhood policing team sharing accommodation with the Fire Brigade. This is with a view to both retaining a local presence and reducing costs.
The brigade is planning to build a new fire station at Thornaby which is expected to open in July 2017. The brigade is currently at the contract award stage.
It has invited the force to consider developing this as a joint facility that to replace the existing Thornaby Police Station.
Decision 11338. Thornaby fire station joint resource (application, 203kB)
There are no proposed changes to the services provided from Thornaby Police Station. This is purely to upgrade the accommodation, save money and work more collaboratively.
This is in line with the approved Estates Blueprint which plans the closure of Thornaby Police Station in 2017. The Blueprint also plans the re-location of the neighbourhood policing team to public sector partner accommodation.
This is because the current Police Station requires major investment to bring it up to standard in line with other Police premises
The proposal is that we co-locate the Thornaby neighbourhood policing team into the new fire station as their permanent base. The design drawings show that there is 70m2 of accommodation being offered to Cleveland Police.
The design has been reviewed and approved by both senior Police operational command leads and the Information Security Manager.
In terms of Thornaby the collaborative opportunity with the Fire Brigade secures high quality accommodation that is very closely located (0.3 miles) to our existing Police base.
In addition to the allocated office accommodation, Cleveland Fire Brigade have agreed that the neighbourhood policing team would have full access to the canteen/dining area, gymnasium, shower facilities and meeting rooms at no additional charge. Adequate parking for both operational and personal vehicles will also be provided.
The estimated costs per square metre have been validated by the Fire Brigades independent construction consultants and have been subjected to a competitive tender exercise.
Following the re-location of the Thornaby neighbourhood policing team into the proposed new Thornaby Fire Station, Cleveland Police would be able to dispose of Thornaby Police Station valued at £225,000. These premises have a current annual revenue maintenance budget of £35,000 and a maintenance backlog of £60,000, over the next 10 years.
Cleveland Fire Brigade has asked for a one off capital contribution of £139,266 plus an annual percentage of revenue contribution for utilities, cleaning and life cycle costings.
Although the extent of this revenue contribution has yet to be clarified, the size of the new accommodation is approximately 15% of the Police existing station which would, on a pro-rata basis, equate to an annual revenue contribution of £5,250.
Cleveland Police would also need to budget for furniture, fixtures and equipment to cover items such as ICT, desks, chairs, projectors, display screen and lockers. This is estimated to be £15,000.