West Midlands Fire Service is one of a number of responsible authorities (including local and police authorities and primary care trusts) who have a duty under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in the local community. One of the most effective tools used to achieve this is to work with relevant key authorities in themed partnerships.
West Midlands Fire Service as an organisation and indeed Sandwell borough within this regularly works closely with agencies such as the police, youth services (including youth offending teams), probation, local housing associations, the highways agency and local authority departments (street cleansing, waste management and neighbourhood wardens) to help make Sandwell a safer place to live. A good example of partnership working in practice is the Sandwell Road Casualty Reduction Partnership, however the local brigade is also an active member of the local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) as well as the Children and Young Peoples, Health and Wellbeing and Housing and Environmental partnerships.
It is via these channels that the local fire service is able to address a range of key issues that impact on core business, from reducing fly tipping and removing abandoned vehicles at one end of the scale to reducing property fires and road traffic collisions at the other.
Further information on some of the partnerships and initiatives that Sandwell Fire Station are involved with can be viewed below.
The Sandwell Partnership
This partnership has developed a 2020 vision for the Borough that will be attained via five strategic priorities. It also provides further information regarding the Local Area Agreement (LAA). This three year strategy outlines the agreement between local authorities and their partners to improve the quality of life for local people. Negotiations have been recently ongoing to agree targets that will help to tackle some of the most prolific challenges in the Sandwell area. Details of these targets and how they are to be achieved can be found on this site.
The Safer Sandwell Partnership
The Safer Sandwell Partnership is responsible for the strategic and operational delivery of fundamental crime and anti-social behaviour reduction work. Significant initiatives are currently being managed through this partnership to reduce offending and the fear of crime, improve liveability and address problematic substance misuse. Further work is also being conducted in conjunction with the Sandwell Strategic Partnership to improve community cohesion across the borough.
Black Country Core Strategy
The core strategy is a ‘spatial planning document’ (i.e it deals not only with land use, but also environmental, economic and social issues) and sets out the vision for the future development of the Black Country until 2026. It builds on work already undertaken by the four Black Country local authorities (and partner agencies) under the remit of the Black Country Study. It is hoped that positive local policies will assist consolidate a reputation as the Black Country being a place where people want to live, work, invest.
Local Development Framework
The local development framework is effectively a 'portfolio' of local development documents which collectively deliver the spatial planning strategy for the Local Planning Authority's area. The Local Development Framework will comprise development plan documents, which will form part of the statutory development plan and supplementary planning documents.
