The BCH Firearms and Explosives Licensing and BCH Human Resources units both launched on 1 December following staff consultation and are expected to save the three forces a total of £4.5m over the next three financial years.

The BCH Firearms and Explosives Licensing unit, which has a northern office in Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire, and a southern office in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, provides a single, consistent approach to the granting and renewal of firearms and explosives licenses across the three counties.

The BCH Human Resources team, which encompasses Learning and Development, is responsible for the coordinated delivery of various core functions across BCH, including employee relations, workforce planning, recruitment, training, development, pay and conditions, health and wellbeing and support for change projects.

A further £10m is expected to be saved over a three-year period following the approval in 2015 of business cases for Criminal Justice, Custody, ICT, Information Management and Public Contact, which incorporates force control rooms and crime recording teams. It is anticipated that these units will collaborate in 2016/17.

To ensure a smooth transition to a fully collaborated Public Contact function, the signing of a Section 22 Collaboration Agreement has led to the appointment of Chief Superintendent Jane Swinburne as the Head of BCH Public Contact. The next stage will be to appoint a single Senior Management Team who will have responsibility for both day to day business and implementation of any future change. Agreements have also been recently signed for Firearms Licensing and Human Resources functions with others due to be signed in the first quarter of 2016.

The ambitious Strategic Alliance between BCH is an ongoing programme of work that focuses on the collaboration of operational and organisational support functions as a way of protecting frontline policing while achieving savings to meet the current financial shortfall.

In addition to increased resilience and economies of scale, collaboration is an opportunity to implement best practice and new technology across the three forces and refine processes so local communities benefit from the most efficient and effective services possible.

Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner David Lloyd said: “I am pleased that we have made substantial progress on collaboration over the last year and look forward to picking up the pace in 2016. I expect the new collaborated units to improve on the already excellent service we offer to the public and to deliver it more efficiently. The savings we make at the same time will ensure that we can deliver on the pledge I have made to protect local policing in Hertfordshire.”

This on-going programme of collaboration supports the three force collaboration already in place across a number of Protective Services functions (operational functions that are delivered to support locally-based crime investigation, response and neighbourhood policing, e.g. Firearms and Roads Policing) with these areas also being reviewed and refined.

Hertfordshire Deputy Chief Constable Michelle Dunn added: “At a time of continued budget pressures collaboration produces efficiencies as well as savings whilst helping to protect front line policing and effective policing services for our communities. It also enables a platform for enhanced expertise in specialist areas and enhances resilience across the three forces.”