Unit 17 - Emergency Services Flashcards
Outline how the regular police service outside London is organised.
There are 42 regular police forces: 26 organised on a county-wide basis (e.g. Norfolk police); 16 combined forces, covering two or more counties (e.g. Thames Valley police cover Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire).
Outline the role of police and crime commissioners and show how they get their post and how they are held to account locally.
Police and crime commissioners are responsible for appointing / dismissing their chief constable; setting the policing plan; setting the budget and precept; holding the chief constable to account.
Outline the role of chief constables.
Chief constables are extremely powerful and determine the operational policy of the force within the policing plan; appoint, promote and discipline all ranks below that of assistant chief constable; produce an annual report for police and crime commissioner; and are answerable to the PCC on matters of efficiency.
Outline how police forces are funded.
The police have three sources of funding. They receive money from central government through the police grant; money from local council tax payers (police precept) and charges from policing commercial events.
Which government department oversees the police service?
Home Office.
A police car answering an emergency call has crashed causing serious injuries to the occupants of a saloon car. Who will investigate the accident and why?
The accident will be investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission because people have been seriously injured at the hands of the police.
Which bodies administer fire and rescue services?
The fire and rescue service is a local authority service and is the responsibility of a county council; a joint authority or a joint board. It generally covers a single county but it may cover more than one county.
Which government department has responsibility for overseeing fire and rescue services?
Home Office.
Outline the main responsibilities of a fire and rescue service.
Fire prevention; fire fighting and other humanitarian roles (vehicle accidents, chemical spillages); non-humanitarian roles ((flood and wind damaged buildings, rescuing animals); ensuring risk assessment has been carried out for public buildings; enforcing fire regulations for new buildings.
Outline how the fire service is funded.
The fire and rescue service is funded like any other local government service – grants from central government; precepts on the council tax; any charges it may levy.
A serious vehicle crash on the motorway was attended by the fire and rescue service to release the occupants from their vehicles; the ambulance service to attend to the injured and transfer them to hospital; and the police. Identify the different authorities responsible for the emergency services.
Fire and rescue is a local government service; ambulance is NHS (ambulance trust); police – police force may either be county-wide or a combined force, covering a number of counties (police and crime commissioner).
What geographical areas do ambulance trusts cover?
Ambulance trusts cover very wide areas – there are only 10 for the whole of England. The south west ambulance service covers 10,000 square miles.
Who funds the ambulance service in England?
They are funded (commissioned) by GP led clinical commissioning groups.
Which government department in England oversees the ambulance service?
Department of Health and Social Care.
