28/03/2017 Look East (West)

more power for Police and Crime Commissioners,

as they could be put in charge of firefighters, too.

Will the space industry stay in the East when Britain goes it alone?

And they all die weather tonight. All the details coming up.

Police officers and firefighters could soon answer to

The Police and Crime Commissioners in Northampntonshire wants to take

on responsibility for fire and rescue services, too.

Several forces in the East are looking at the idea.

But is integration a good idea? Tom Percival reports.

Putting out fires, arresting criminals.

Two very different jobs which could soon share one ultimate boss.

Because the government says that Police and Crime Commissioners,

elected to set police priorities, should take on fire services, too.

It makes sure that our emergency services are working much

more closely together. That the governance is streamlined.

So, instead of having committees that nobody has ever heard

of and hardly ever sees, there is very clear

accountability and that Police and Crime Commissioner

That is better for decision making, as well as transparency

Northamptonshire says it was the first place in the country

Fire and police here already share a range of things,

including their headquarters, Wootton Hall.

The Police and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold says adding fire

We will make sure the brands are protected distinctly.

There will be two separate chief officers.

Actually, it's about how we work together, but maintaining that

And if anything, given that they're kind of lost

in the county council with the fire authority at this moment,

it's much clearer about the money they think is being spent

The government insists that firefighters at places

like this, in Northampton, will remain independent.

But the union that represents them is worried public trust

by a merger which they say is totally unnecessary.

The fire authorities have been delivering against their objectives

for an amount of time. Again, by no means perfect.

When it comes to things like cuts, they unfortunately have

not been as vociferous as we would like in opposing

dangerous cuts and things like the cost of chief fire

officer's salaries in some locations has been a big concern for us.

But broadly, when you look at public satisfaction,

people are quite happy with how the fire service is run.

What some might call innovation, others claim is simply cost-cutting.

A public consultation on merger plans will begin in Northamptonshire

by early summer and, in Essex, it's already underway.

Police and Crime Commissioners are still far from universally

popular, but they could soon get even more power.

But is there any demand for this change?

I asked a lecturer in policing issues at Anglia Ruskin University

and the former PCC for Essex, Nick Alston.

What I found in Essex when I was PCC was public accountability, making

the police service really responsive to public needs was not

There was an old-fashioned authority that found it

It is about delivering effective and cost-efficient services to the

public and we should think of it as service to the public.

If they were elected from a police brief,

would they know enough about fire, would they know

what they would need to do if a building was on fire?

I would not think of telling the Chief Constable

There would be an operational fire chief in charge of

the fire service, but when you look at the estates, funding,

human resource issues, those things are where the

public expect good value and, at the moment, with the police

and fire service not sharing facilities, you could take

a different approach, as we have done in Northamptonshire,

where you can reimagine how you deliver services for example to road

accidents or people who have a fall at home and need

It could be a fire officer, police, someone from the ambulance service.

Let's get smart about delivering those services.

There is a worry that firefighters are seen as neutral,

Law enforcers are a slightly different thing, going into people's

homes, and there is a worry that, if they are linked, people will not

I hear that, but I am not entirely convinced by that.

My experience in Essex, when people needed help from

the police, they were welcome in their houses.

Everyone wants a fair policing service.

I would argue that the police deliver that to everybody.

Let's remember that policing these days is

Often, they are dealing with vulnerability, dealing

Dealing with child abuse, dealing with victims of modern slavery.

All of these issues require very careful and sympathetic handling

by the police and I do not think it is the way

to highlight any difference between the services.

How will the international space industry cope with Brexit?

In the same week the UK triggers Article 50 to start leaving the EU,

a Stevenage-built rocket will be blasted into space from

The East is the biggest region for space outside of London

and the South-East - with 84 space companies

headquartered here, turning over ?1.75 billion.

Louise Hubball has been taking a look at how they might fare.

It is hard to believe but, in 1960, Stevenage launched a rocket -

57 years later, at Airbus, the town's space programme is thriving.

This is the heart of a telecommunications satellite that

will relay news from around the world, but with Brexit

on the horizon, what could it mean for business?

The European Space Agency is a separate body, so you do

The UK will continue to invest in that and the European Space Agency

is the customer for a number of our projects.

The Mars Rover, solar orbital satellite, another satellite -

a high proportion of the work we have in Stevenage.

Stevenage has been dubbed the UK's space city and the range

of businesses supporting the industry in the town

Here, cutting-edge technology is used to develop the

In this digital age, proximity to their main client

We can just go and have collaborative meetings and discuss

problems and it means face-to-face we can get together,

With the complex interactive problems we have to solve

with Airbus, it makes a huge difference.

Down the road, this small family metalworking firm has had Airbus

We are slightly worried, because Brexit is unknown and nobody

knows what will happen with Europe and ourselves.

We hope, because they are based in the UK it will not affect

is but everybody will have to wait and see.

Over the next 12 months, four satellites will be launched

So, how will the Brexit process affect workers in the space sector?

Anne Wesemann, an expert in EU law, joined me earlier to explain.

I am sure they are waiting for the government to come up with the

results of the negotiation process. A lot will be concerned with the

movement of workers. If they were forced to have

knowledge from one member state only, it would have an impact on the

village the recount. Is the legal advice been taken so they can ensure

continuity? I am sure they will offer looked into that. Employment

law and immigration. The difficulty is we cannot foresee the deal that

will be struck. We know it will most likely no access to the single

market, but we do not know what the alternative will be. That is what

creates this uncertainty, which is particularly difficult for

businesses which plan for longer term, such as the space industry.

Police in Luton say a man was dragged from his car

and beaten with a metal bar, in an apparent hate crime.

It happened in Oakley Close last Wednesday night.

Five men approached the victim's car, smashed two windows

and pulled him out on the street, where they attacked him.

The group ran off when two members of the public got

Bedfordshire Police want to speak to them.

And anyone else with information can call 101.

Elderly residents at a care home in Milton Keynes have

been told it is closing on Friday.

The Five Acres home in Simpson was due to be bought

by Milton Keynes Council, but late last week,

councillors decided it was no longer financially viable

and say they are working hard to find

new homes for residents, many of whom have severe dementia.

I will leave you with the weather from Alex,

but from the late team here, good night.

After several cold nights, tonight is going to be much milder.

We have got milder air and a lot of cloud across the region.

It could produce some patchy rain as we

go through the rest of the evening and night.

But most of that will clear away by first thing tomorrow morning.

Temperatures not lower than 9 Celsius for most of us.

A light to moderate south-westerly wind and we start

There is this weather system to the west, but it

so a lot of the day does look as if it will be dry.

It will be rather cloudy and breezy at times.

But there should be some brighter spells,

Temperatures perhaps not as promising as they were today.

There will be more cloud around generally, but we

could still get highs of praise of 16 Celsius.

The national weather is coming up, but here is the outlook.

Temperatures may climb to 18-19 Celsius,

We hold onto that weather for Friday,

before rain arrives later into a cooler weekend.

of year. This stay tuned for the national weather forecasts with John

Hammond. Good evening. Your parents might

have told you once that life 's not fair and they were right. He is the

proof. Over the next few days some of us will enjoy some lovely

sunshine, temperatures in the low 20s. It will feel like early summer.

For others, quite a lot of rain around and it will feel like late

March. This is showers earlier on today and dampness this evening in

the West Country and Wales. That is heading north eastwards. A different

sort of night. A lot of cloud around, quite damp and misty in

places. Cloud cover will prevent temperatures falling much