NORTH Yorkshire’s police commissioner had submitted her business case for taking on additional responsibility for the fire service.

Julia Mulligan has published her consultation response and revised business case for overthrowing the existing fire authority, which currently oversees North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. The case has been lodged with the Home Office following a ten week consultation which received responses from more than 2,500 people.

She said: “I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed to the consultation – the public, firefighters, police officers and fire and police staff and councils – who shared their views, took the time to fill out the survey and who met with me personally.”

The business case will now undergo an independent assessment at the Home Office before the Home Secretary makes her final decision.

In her survey, the majority of public and staff voted for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service to be overseen by the “governance model”, while 29 per cent voted for the “representative model” which is the existing fire authority and 15 per cent voted for the “single employer model”.

Richmondshire and Hambleton district councils, the City of York Council, North Yorkshire County Council and North Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel all rejected the proposals and offered her a position as the 13th member of the board.